888 sees FY results ahead of previous expectations; expands US presence
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 02 Dec 2020
(Sharecast News) - 888 Holdings said on Wednesday that full-year revenue and earnings are set to be ahead of its previous expectations, as it announced three multi-year market access agreements to launch in the US states of Colorado, Indiana and Iowa.
The online gambling company said it has continued to deliver a "strong" operational performance in the second half. This reflects high levels of customer acquisition in 2019 and 2020, benefits of the ongoing structural shift in consumer behaviour towards online services and "significant" new product roll-outs.
As a result, revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the full year will be ahead of its prior expectations. Revenue is expected to be up around 45% on last year, while the adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be approximately 18.5%, consistent with the first half.
Given the new gaming regulations implemented in Germany in October and its plans to increase investment in the US market, 888 said expectations for next year remain unchanged.
Chief executive officer Itai Pazner said: "This performance continues to reflect strong first time deposit trends in line with the group's recreational customer focus as well as the structural shift towards online services being seen across several consumer-facing industries."
As far as the new US access agreements are concerned, it said that in Colorado, 888Sport will launch under the licence of the Colorado Grande Casino based in Cripple Creek. In Iowa, it will launch under the licence of Catfish Bend Casinos II LLC. In Indiana, 888 has signed an agreement with Harrah's Hoosier Park, which is owned by Caesars Entertainment, to launch 888Sport.
Pazner said: "The US online betting and gaming market has huge growth potential, and we continue to build a strong platform for growth across both our B2B and B2C operations."
At 1240 GMT, the shares were up 2.1% at 278.10p.
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