Gibraltar-headquartered online gambling operator 888 Holdings today posted information about its financial performance during the six months ended June 30, 2016. Excluding VAT, revenue amounted to $262 million for the period in review, up 19% year-on-year. The company attributed the growth to the encouraging performance of its casino and sports betting divisions.
B2C revenue increased 21% during the first half of the year to reach $229.5 million. The company’s casino division contributed a total of $141.5 million to the overall figure reported, up 30% from the same period of the previous year.
Poker revenue dropped 7% during the six months in review to $43.1 million. Bingo offering generated the amount of $23.1 million, up 2% year-on-year. Revenue from sports betting amounted to $25 million during this year’s first half, reflecting an impressive 63% growth from the prior-year period. Emerging offering generated the amount of $1.8 million, up 10% year-on-year.
B2B revenue increased 6% year-on-year to $32.5 million. Including VAT, overall revenue for the period in review totaled $267 million, up 19% year-on-year. The company said that revenue from regulated markets was up 29% during the first half of the year an accounted for 63% of the total figure reported for the reviewed six months.
Adjusted EBITDA amounted to $44.1 million, reflecting an 8% increase. EBITDA was up 36% to reach $38.2 million. The gambling operator noted that the EBITDA growth was registered despite adverse currency movements totaling $3 million. During the six months ended June 30, 888 Holdings generated profit before tax of $27.8 million.
The company’s casino and sports betting division performed extremely well during the period in review and were the main drivers of revenue growth. The number of active casino players was up 35% year-on-year. The operator attributed the increase to the recent launch of CRM and premium gambling content.
In addition, operator-friendly UEFA Euro 2016 results, accelerated marketing initiatives, and the launch in the Danish and Italian regulated iGaming markets were among the factors that contributed the most to the sports betting division’s successful performance.
Mobile offering also grew across all verticals. Mobile gambling products proved to be particularly popular in the UK, where revenue from those accounted for 56% of the overall amount generated in that particular market.
The gambling operator highlighted strong progress in Spain where its full suite of product offering drove a 58% increase in revenue during the reported period. Revenue from Italy grew 44% year-on-year and was to a great extent boosted by the launch of sports betting offering in the first half of 2016.
The Gibraltar-based provider of gambling options entered the Danish regulated online gaming market in the third quarter of 2015. 888 Holdings said that half-year results from local operations were more than encouraging.
Commenting on the latest results reported, 888 Holdings CEO Itai Frieberger said that the company’s performance during the first half of 2016 was very encouraging and that it was in a strong position to deliver a long-term growth. The executive also expressed confidence that 888 Holdings will exceed full-year expectations.
