William Hill owner 888 sees earnings and revenue lower

Revenue is expected to dip by around 10% in the third quarter, the gambling company said.

August Graham
Thursday 28 September 2023 03:00 EDT
888 owns William Hill. (Aaron Chown/PA)
888 owns William Hill. (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Archive)

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Gambling group 888 warned of a hit to earnings and revenue on Thursday as it revealed an impact from sporting results that benefited customers and new gambling rules.

The William Hill owner said that it expects revenue for the third quarter of the year to dip around 10% to somewhere close to £400 million.

It came as it also warned that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) will be lower than it had previously expected during the period.

“We are making significant strides to improve the quality and long-term sustainability of our revenues, but performance in the third quarter has been below our expectations, and this means we now expect to end the year with Ebitda below our prior expectation,” said executive chairman Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn.

The company pointed towards “customer friendly sports results” which impacted its margins both in the UK and abroad in September.

It also said that it has made improvements “to the sustainability and quality of the mix of the business”, something that is weighing on its performance in the short term.

Revenue in the fourth quarter is expected to be higher than in the third, but lower than a year earlier “by a mid-single digit”, 888 said.

Lord Mendelsohn said: “The hard work the team has undertaken so far this year has set very strong foundations for the future of the business and our synergy delivery is well on track.

“We are strongly focused on investing to deliver good levels of expected revenue growth in 2024 as we progress towards our clear target of more than £2 billion of revenue in 2025 and I look forward to the coming years with confidence.”

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