Retail hike helps stable 888 results

888’s revenue for Q4 2022 and across the whole of last year were both down by three per cent year-on-year, but a boost in retail helped the operator’s overall stable results.

Q4 revenue totalled £458m, which was an increase of two per cent on Q3. Online revenues, which tallied at £326m in Q4, were stable compared to Q3 and dropped five per cent year on year.

However, 888’s retail revenue for the last quarter showed a six per cent jump on Q3 and a five per cent increase year-on-year at £131m.

The operator said strong performances across a number of regulated countries were offset by the impact of proactive enhanced player safety measures within the UK online segment.

Although, a full year of trading in retail helped those figures compared to the closures throughout parts of 2021.

As for the full year of 2022, revenue totalled £1.85bn, a drop of three per cent. Online performance decreased 15 per cent compared to 2021’s overall figures to £1.3bn. However, that slump was offset by a 54 per cent hike in retail revenue, with such revenue at £519m for 2022.

888 also announced that the board and Yariv Dafna, chief financial officer and executive director, have mutually agreed that he will step down on March 31 following the publication of the FY22 results, with 888 having commenced the search for a successor.

Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, said: “The Board and I would like to thank Yariv for the contribution he has made to 888 including playing a crucial role in the completion of our transformational combination with William Hill and leading the recent successful financing of 888’s external debt. On behalf of everyone at 888, I wish him the very the best in his future endeavours.

“During the fourth quarter of 2022 our teams continued to make rapid progress in integrating these two highly complementary businesses, and have started the process to migrate Mr Green to our proprietary global tech stack, as we execute against our strategic roadmap that we outlined at our recent capital markets day.

“Revenues during the fourth quarter saw continued strong trading in retail, and a robust performance online. As previously discussed, we continue to see pressure on our UK online revenues from regulatory change including the ongoing impact of the enhanced player safety measures, but I am confident we are building a sustainable leading business for the future.”