The chips might not have fallen in favour of 888's (888) pursuit for rival company Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment (BWIN) - the failed bid cost it $14.6m (£10.2m) - but that didn't stop it delivering a respectable set of results. Like-for-like revenue, which excludes the impact of the recently introduced point-of-consumption tax in the UK, as well as new VAT laws in some European countries, rose 12 per cent thanks to a similar size increase in the amount of active players.
Casino - the biggest business activity by sales - witnessed an 8 per cent rise in turnover, although the 'emerging offerings' segment reported the strongest growth. Sales there rose 38 per cent, albeit from a small base. This division includes 888's sports betting business, something which Itai Frieberger, its recently appointed chief executive, wants to focus on. There's no hard target for how much revenue should come from regulated markets, but this rose to 59 per cent of group sales last year.
House broker Numis Securities expects adjusted pre-tax profit of $62m in 2016, leading to adjusted EPS of 14.8¢ compared with $60m and 15.8¢ in 2015.
| 888 (888) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 185p | MARKET VALUE: | £660m | |
| TOUCH: | 184.5-185p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 188p | LOW: 145p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.9%* | PE RATIO: | 32 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 45¢** | NET CASH: | $179m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 331 | 5.8 | 0.6 | nil |
| 2012 | 376 | 40.8 | 10.2 | 7.0 |
| 2013 | 401 | 53.2 | 14.2 | 14.4 |
| 2014 | 455 | 67.9 | 16.1 | 15.0 |
| 2015 | 462 | 32.5 | 8.3 | 15.5 |
| % change | +2 | -52 | -48 | +3 |
Ex-div: 14 Apr Payment: 12 May *Includes special dividend worth 8¢ a share **Includes intangible assets of $157m, or 97¢ a share £1=$1.43 | ||||
