TIDM888
RNS Number : 6029M
888 Holdings plc
13 January 2023
13 January 2023
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN
PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM ANY OTHER
JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE
RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
888 Holdings Plc
("888" or "the Group")
2022 Post-close Trading Update and Directorate Change
FY pro forma revenue of GBP1.85 billion and Adjusted EBITDA
in-line with expectations
888 (LSE: 888), one of the world's leading betting and gaming
companies with internationally renowned brands including 888,
William Hill, Mr Green and SI Sportsbook, today announces a
post-close trading update for the 12 months ending 31 December 2022
("FY22" or the "Period").
The acquisition of the international (non-US) business of
William Hill completed on 1 July 2022, and as such, in order to aid
comparability, the financial results and associated commentary
presented in this statement, unless otherwise stated, reflect the
pro forma results as if 888 had owned William Hill for each of the
periods below. The financial results exclude the 888 Bingo
business, the sale of which completed on 7 July 2022.
Three months ended December(1,2) Year ended December(1,2)
GBP millions Q4 2022 Q4 2021 YoY% FY22 FY21 YoY%
--------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------- --------- ------------
Online 326 345 -5% 1,332 1,570 -15%
Retail 131 125 +5% 519 337 +54%
--------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------- --------- ------------
Total Revenue 458 470 -3% 1,850 1,907 -3%
--------------- ----------- ------------ -------------- -------- --------- ------------
Q4 Financial highlights
-- Trading during the fourth quarter of 2022 was in-line with
Board expectations with Q4 revenue of GBP458 million, 2% above Q3
2022, reflecting the positive impact of the additional days trading
to align reporting periods(1)
-- Online revenues stable compared to Q3 2022, and 5% lower than
the prior year, with a continuation of the trends seen in the first
nine months of the year, with strong performances across a number
of regulated countries being offset by the impact of proactive
enhanced player safety measures within the UK Online segment
-- Retail revenues of GBP131 million were up 5% compared to the
prior year and up 6% compared to Q3 2022 as the well optimised
retail estate continues to perform strongly
-- The World Cup contributed to a successful fourth quarter, and
was also a strong period for both acquisition of new customers and
engagement of existing customers across online and retail, with
online player days at William Hill up 22% compared to Euro 2021
-- Successful pricing of GBP347 million equivalent of new debt,
with the proceeds used to repay the existing indebtedness under the
sterling-denominated Term Loan A. Following additional hedging
arrangements, the Group ended the year with GBP1.8 billion
equivalent debt, with 43% of effective debt in Sterling, 49% in
Euros and 8% in USD, with approximately 70% of interest costs fixed
for at least three years. As at 31 December 2022, cash (net of
customer balances) was GBP170 million, with undrawn committed
facilities of GBP150 million, giving total liquidity of GBP320
million
Pro forma FY22 financial highlights
-- Revenue of GBP1.85 billion, in-line with guidance
-- Online revenue of GBP1.3 billion, down 15%, with revenues
impacted by proactive enhanced player safety measures within the UK
Online segment, and the closure of the Netherlands, with revenues
outside these territories down 4%, principally reflecting the
strong comparative period and refined market focus
-- Retail revenues of GBP519 million, up 54% YoY, reflecting a
full year of trading in 2022 relative to partial closures during
the first half of 2021. Average revenue per shop was up 7% relative
to 2019
-- FY22 Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in-line with the guidance range of GBP305-315 million
Outlook
The outlook for 2023 is unchanged, with group revenues expected
to be lower by a low single digit percentage, and an Adjusted
EBITDA margin of at least 20%, with a strong focus on integration
and execution of cost synergies during the year. This is consistent
with the "Plan" phase of the Group's "Position-Plan-Potential"
roadmap that was outlined with its Capital Market Day on 29
November 2022. There is no change in the 2025 targets of at least
GBP2 billion of revenue, an Adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 23%
and more than 35p Adjusted EPS.
The Group intends to release its full year results for the year
ended 31 December 2022 in late March 2023.
Directorate Change
888 today also announces that the Board and Yariv Dafna, Chief
Financial Officer and Executive Director, have mutually agreed that
he will step down following the publication of the Group's FY22
results. Yariv has made significant contributions to 888's progress
in recent years, including through its transformational combination
with William Hill.
Yariv will step down from his role as Chief Financial Officer
and as an Executive Director on 31 March 2023. The Board has
commenced a search to identify a successor.
Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, commented:
"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.
As we look forward, we remain focused primarily on successful
integration, execution and de-leveraging in order to unlock the
potential from our enlarged business."
Notes
(1) William Hill financials were previously reported on a 52
week basis opposed to calendar year. For the year ended 31 December
2022 and to align to calendar year reporting an adjustment has been
made to include the additional four days from 28 to 31 December
2022. This increases Q4 and FY 2022 revenue by approximately GBP9m
but is currently expected to have no impact at an EBITDA level. No
adjustment has been made in respect of the prior periods.
(2) Subtotals, totals, and percentage changes shown throughout
this document have been calculated based on the underlying numbers
and therefore may not sum directly when using the rounded numbers
presented.
Enquiries and further information:
888 Holdings Plc +44(0) 800 029 3050
Itai Pazner, Chief Executive Officer
Yariv Dafna, Chief Financial Officer
Vaughan Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer
Investor Relations ir@888holdings.com
James Finney, Director of IR
Media 888@hudsonsandler.com
Hudson Sandler
Alex Brennan / Charlotte Cobb / Andy Richards +44(0) 207 796 4133
About 888 Holdings Plc:
888 Holdings plc (and together with its subsidiaries, "888" or
the "Group") is one of the world's leading betting and gaming
companies. In 2022, the Group acquired the international (non-US)
business of William Hill to create a global industry leader.
Headquartered in Gibraltar, and listed in London, the Group
operates from 15 offices around the world and employs over 12,000
people globally.
The Group's mission is to lead the gambling world in creating
the best betting and gaming experiences, bringing unrivalled
moments of excitement to people's day-to-day lives. It achieves
this by developing state-of-the-art technology and content-rich
products that provide fun, fair, and safe betting and gaming
entertainment to customers around the world.
The Group owns and operates internationally renowned brands
including 888casino, 888sport, 888poker, William Hill and Mr Green.
In addition, the Group operates the SI Sportsbook brand in the US
in partnership with Authentic Brands Group.
Find out more at:
http://corporate.888.com/
Important Notices
This announcement may contain certain forward-looking
statements, beliefs or opinions, with respect to the financial
condition, results of operations and business of 888. These
statements, which contain the words "anticipate", "believe",
"intend", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "seek", "continue",
"aim", "target", "projected", "plan", "goal", "achieve", words of
similar meaning or other forward looking statements, reflect 888's
beliefs and expectations and are based on numerous assumptions
regarding 888's present and future business strategies and the
environment 888 will operate in and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially.
No representation is made that any of these statements or forecasts
will come to pass or that any forecast results will be achieved.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the
future and may cause the
actual results, performance or achievements of 888 to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties
relate to factors that are beyond 888's ability to control or
estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency
fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the
actions of regulators and other factors such as 888's ability to
continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes
in the political, social and regulatory framework in which 888
operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. Past
performance of 888 cannot be relied on as a guide to future
performance. As a result, you are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements. The list above is not
exhaustive and there are other factors that may cause 888's actual
results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of their date and 888, its respective parent and subsidiary
undertakings, the subsidiary undertakings of such parent
undertakings, and any of such person's respective directors,
officers, employees, agents, affiliates or advisers expressly
disclaim any obligation to supplement, amend, update or revise any
of the forward-looking statements made herein, except where it
would be required to do so under applicable law. No statement in
this announcement is intended as a profit forecast or a profit
estimate and no statement in this announcement should be
interpreted to mean that the financial performance of 888 for the
current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed
the historical published for 888
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