888 Implement New Casino Responsibility Program
After implementing new proprietary responsible gambling software, 888casino, Poker and Bingo brands now aim to uphold the values they’re promoting under their corporate social responsibility program. 888’s CSR is focused on 3 core values, and these segments are tied together under their strategy of ‘Safer. Better. Together.’
Chief Executive Officer of 888 Holdings, Itai Pazner, has stated that as more people are playing casino games online, the company is even more committed to preventing gambling related harm. It is of paramount importance that 888 remains in active communication with players to provide information on safer gambling and when necessary, offer support.
The online casino company’s commitment to monitoring and ensuring players are given the best experience includes the new alert system they have added to the Observer, their proprietary safe gambling software. This software monitors and scans all players activity and is able to flag any areas of possible concern. This information is sent to 888 Holdings team of customer care agents, who can then act in order to prevent any possible harm.
The success of 888’s technology with their growing player base is further complimented by the outstanding and skilled team. As such, the board believes there are many new and exciting opportunities and avenues of growth, which they are certain will be taken far beyond 2020.
Profits Down But Revenue Up
However, the release of 888 Holdings financial report for the end of 2019 shows a 58.3% drop in pre-tax profit when compared to the year-end of 2018. This comes as a surprise after the casino group recorded a profit of $560.3m compared to their 2018 recorded revenue of $529.9m.
Of interest during the reporting period, the B2C casino vertical increased to 13%, while sport grew 12% and Bingo rose by 19%. These increases were spurred on from having brought on board new brands. While these gains are a good indication of market interest, the loss from Poker revenue, decreasing by 13%, has been chalked up to operating in a more competitive environment.
As such, the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $85.6m in 2019 looks as though it was mainly impacted by the $25.6m of additional duties, which also reflect 888 Holdings growth in new regulated markets, and with the foreign exchange markets headwinds.
New Regulated Markets Aid Growth
While the decrease of profit in 2019 can be viewed as a negative, CEO Itai Pazner firmly believes that 2019 was a year of strategic progress for the casino company. Not only was there a marked increase in new players via its international brands (over 1 million), the company also debuted in new regulated markets and successfully acquired a brand new, world-class sports betting platform and team.
Despite the increased gaming duties and challenging conditions in several of the international markets, the company was able to provide a resilient financial performance in 2019. This manages to highlight that the combination 888 Holdings offers of compliance, diversification in regulated markets and top technology ensures they have entered 2020 with a record level of new players. And this onward and upward trajectory looks as if it will continue as the year progresses.