888 Holdings 2015 results heavily impacted by increased tax burdens

888 Holdings hailed a successful year despite reporting an almost 50 percent dip in full year 2015 operational profit which the company directly attributed to increased tax burdens.

Key performance indicators for the period ending December 31, 2015 include.

– Like for like revenue increase of 12 percent to $507.7 million (2014: $454.7 million); reported revenue increased 2 percent to $462.1 million.

– Like for like B2C revenue increased 14 percent to $444.2 million (2014: $390.8m); reported revenue increased 3 percent to $402.6 million.

– Like for like Casino revenue increased 18 percent to $261.4 million (2014: $220.6 million); reported Casino revenue increased 5 percent to $230.6m (2014: $220.6m)

– Revenue from regulated territories increased to represent 59 percent of Group revenue (2014: 55 percent)

– B2B revenue of $59.5 million (2014: $63.9 million) impacted by adverse currency movements

– Adjusted EBITDA of $80.6 million (2014: $100.7 million), which the company described as a resilient outcome given newly introduced gaming duties in 2015 of $32.2 million, $10.2 million (2014: nil) in relation to newly introduced VAT in certain EU member states as well as adverse currency movements; EBITDA of $59.4 million (2014: $97.3 million)

– Adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.4 percent (2014: 22.1 percent); EBITDA margin of 12.9 percent (2014: 21.4 percent)

– Adjusted profit before tax of $55.5 million (2014: $67.9 million); Profit before tax of $32.5 million (2014: $67.9 million)

– Strong cashflow performance with net cash generated from operating activities of $85.0 million (2014: $111.9 million)

– Corporate cash net of customer liabilities of $96.2 million (2014: $95.6 million)

– Final dividend of 4.0 cents per ordinary share per policy (2014: 4.5 cents) and due to strong performance the Board recommended an additional one-off dividend of 8.0 cents per share (2014: 7.0 cents), bringing the total dividend per share for the year to 15.5 cents per share (2014: 15.0 cents)

– 13 percent increase in active B2C customers attributed to marketing expertise and innovative CRM

– Mobile continues to drive growth across product verticals, now representing 47 percent of UK B2C revenue (2014: 33 percent)

– Continued outperformance in Casino with 37 percent increase in active players

– 888Poker maintained No. 2 position in global poker liquidity rankings

– 888Sport continued outstanding growth with revenue up 74 percent against strong comparatives

Other highlights during 2015 included: an increase in 888’s share of the Spanish market with the launch of 888Sport.es; encouraging progress in Italy with the launch of new casino content and the introduction of mobile and sport; and the launch of the Multistage Poker Network in the US.

In addition, the company’s launch in Denmark is showing encouraging progress and its Dragonfish Bingo Network has shown encouraging growth with the addition of 33 skins during 2015.

Itai Frieberger, chief executive officer of 888, commenting on the results said:

“2015 was a very successful year for 888 during which we maintained our excellent operational momentum. This strong performance reflects the continued execution of our focused growth strategy as well as the quality of our brands, best-in-class technology and CRM expertise and was achieved despite the significant external challenges that impacted the online gaming industry and our profitability.”

”With our excellent operational momentum, leading online gaming brands and technology edge, the Board remains confident of delivering long term sustainable growth and we look forward with confidence as we continue to develop 888.”

In a trading update, 888 has kicked of the year in good form reporting an average daily revenue in Q1/2016 20 percent higher than the same period last year.

In related news, an application has been made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for the block listing of 3,000,000 ordinary shares of GBP 0.005 each which is expected to list on March 23, 2016.

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