888 Holdings said its pre-tax profit tripled from a year earlier, as online casino services in its core European markets remained popular during lockdowns.

Annual revenue from 888’s core markets, the UK, Italy and Spain, rose 18%. Profit before tax surged 205% to $81.3 million in the year ended Dec. 31.Group revenue +15% (+10% cc) to a new record of $980.1 million, with double-digit B2C growth in most of our core and growth markets, driven by competitive advantages in product and content leadership, world class brands and marketing, and customer excellence.

Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, commented:”2021 was a very successful year for 888 as we continued to position the Group to become a global leader in online betting and gaming. It was another record year from a financial perspective, and we have truly transformed the scale of the business over the past two years. This step-change in scale has come from a clear market focus on regulated markets, which now make up three quarters of revenue, and where we are seeing really positive market share trends. 

We continued to leverage our competitive advantages around product leadership, brands, and customer excellence to improve the quality of products and the customer experience across sports and gaming, all the while maintaining our persistent focus on delivering our safer gambling priorities. 

Alongside the strong organic growth and operational progress, 2021 was a busy year for strategic expansion, including the long-term strategic partnership with Sports Illustrated and launch of SI Sportsbook, the announcement in September of our proposed acquisition of William Hill, and the sale of our bingo business as we look to increase focus on our core B2C strategy.