888 Holdings earnings almost doubled over the last year as the firm also saw a significant increase in revenue. EBITDA increased 94 percent to $55.6 million with revenue for the entire business up 26 percent to $331.1 million. Total B2C revenue, as a part of that, increased 28% to $284.2 million. That meant more money being taken across all verticals with casino (up from $116.9m to $148m) and poker (increase from $38.4m to $60.6m) the star performers. It was a pity this couldn’t remedy the profit before tax fall from $15.1 million to $13 million, something blamed on a number of different costs relating to restructuring and administration.
It has been confirmed by the company that Brian Mattingley has taken the helm and in his first results call since taking the job permanently he said: “I am delighted and proud to have officially taken the helm at 888. 2011 has been a phenomenal year for us, refocusing on our core product offer and the success of our Poker 6 platform has delivered exceptional growth across all key metrics. We are more than ready to take advantage of liberalisation in the industry. We have a unique position in the US allowing the launch of a real money offering immediately as either federal or state based regulation is finalised and upon licensing by gaming authorities.”
The current year has started off well with average daily revenue up 2 percent compared with Q4 2011. Player recruitment has seen the biggest upturn in fortune with a rise of 15 percent compared with the last quarter.
Unibet will relaunch its French site it beta later today. The dot.fr is starting up to retain as many reactivated customers as possible after a “better than expected” performance from the rebrand of EurosportBET. Julien Brun, general manager of Unibet France, told eGR: “Having the former EurosportBET team working in France allows us to move quickly like a start-up so we have been able to launch the new site live in a short period of time.”
Sportingbet has made its last payment of $6 million to the US Department of Justice. Chief executive Andrew McIver confirmed in a statement: “This final payment formally closes any risk which the company may have faced from its former activities in the US.”
