Profits fall heavily at 888 as a result of gaming duties

Profit dropped heavily at 888 last year, as the business had to contend with higher gaming duties slapped on its gambling sites.
By Ismail Mulla
Published 15th Apr 2020, 08:12 BST
Updated 15th Apr 2020, 08:14 BST
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Profit before tax hit £36m in 2019, down from £86.5m the year before, 888 revealed on Wednesday.

It comes in the period before the coronavirus outbreak hit the world economy. 888 said it is closely monitoring the pandemic, but that as an online-only company it should be able to manage the storm.

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Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, said: "2019 was a year of further strategic progress for 888. During the year, 888 welcomed a record number of new customers - more than a million - to its international brands, launched in new regulated markets with very encouraging initial results, and completed the acquisition of a first-class sports betting platform and team.

"Despite the headwinds of significantly increased gaming duties and challenging conditions in some of our global markets, 888 delivered a resilient financial performance during 2019 reflecting the strength of our unique combination of technology, compliance and diversification across regulated markets.

"We entered 2020 with a record level of customers and the trends reported in our update on 24 March 2020 have continued in the year to date."