Bet365 has returned to profitability in its 2023-24 full-year earnings, as the company cites product improvements and US expansion as performance drivers.
A Companies House filing outlining the operator’s performance for the 12 months to 31 March 2024 reported 2023-24 financial year group revenue of £3.72 billion (€4.48 billion/$4.65 billion). This marked a 9% increase on the operator’s 2022-23 revenue of £3.41 billion.
The earnings report said Bet365’s betting and gaming revenue had also increased 9% year-on-year to £3.7 billion. Its football club and facilities segment, which included Stoke City Football Club at the time, recorded £23.8 million in revenue.
Looking at the bottom line, profit before tax for the betting and gaming segment was £626.6 million. However, the Stoke City FC business suffered a £30.3 million loss, more than the £12.4 million loss it reported in 2023.
Bet365 also donated £127 million to charity during the period, up 20.5% on the 2023 financial year. Of this, £120 million went to the Denise Coates Foundation. Gross profit for the entire group was £3.03 billion (up 4.73%), while operating profit came in at £396.6 million, up from an operating loss of £37.3 million it suffered last year.
The filing noted that the Stoke City FC and facilities business had been delisted after the reporting period (8 July) and the estimated cost of that demerger was expected to be £118 million. Bet365’s controlling stake is now owned by director John Coates.
Sports up on US expansion
Breaking down the business segments, betting revenue was up 11% during the 12-month period, boosted by key product improvements, new US launches and an additional week of trading on the year prior.
“During this period, the group has continued to invest significantly in its American platform and has successfully launched regulated products in the states of Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Pennsylvania,” CEO and co-founder Denise Coates said in the filing’s introduction.
On product, Coates said the popular Bet Builder product had added new sports including boxing, cricket, F1 and UFC. The fantasy product was also improved and new sports were added to the virtual sports offering.
Additional French and Latin American Spanish languages added to the product suite and investments in customer engagement and search optimisation have further improved the player experience.
Gaming faces live casino headwinds amid focus on exclusive games
On gaming, Coates said the segment remained “broadly flat year-on-year and in line with expectations given the strong prior period results”.
“Maintaining this level of performance can be attributed to a number of strategic initiatives across the different gaming products,” she added.
During the period the operator focused on personalising its gaming offering. This included rolling out an updated version of its games recommendation engine to offer it across additional gaming segments and markets.
The live casino product faced a number of market headwinds, Coates said. But the segment has been a “strategic priority” for Bet365 and during the reporting period it expanded its dedicated table games offering.
A second exclusive live game show product was released, based on the in-house slot game Super Mega Ultra. The operator also launched its first free-to-play game, offering daily prizes to customers.
“Our games product remained the focal point for housing the variety of game types available, as we continue our quality over quantity strategy,” said Coates.
Bet365 participating in UKGC financial risk checks pilot
Coates highlighted the operator’s commitment to safer gambling, noting it was ready for incoming regulatory changes in the UK, relating to the previous government’s gambling white paper.
Bet365 is one of a handful of top-tier companies taking part in the UK Gambling Commission’s pilot scheme for increased financial vulnerability checks. As part of this programme, participating operators are to flag and proceed to check a player’s financial risk when their net monthly deposit hits £500. The threshold will be lowered in February to a £150 net monthly deposit.
However, it outlined an ongoing AML investigation into its Australian business being carried out by the financial watchdog AUSTRAC. This was initiated in March 2024 and is investigating the operator’s compliance of the country’s AML and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006. The filing said that enforcement action is not guaranteed. It is cooperating fully with AUSTRAC during the investigation.
Bet365 faced customer claims of up to £19.9 million during the reported period. These largely relate to historic activity in Germany and Austria. Denise Coates received a £94.6 million salary.
