UK betting group Betfred has posted a financial loss of £40.7 million for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 2018.
The loss came largely because the company wrote down the value of its retail business after the UK lowered the maximum bet on FOBTs to £2 from £100. Despite the change, the group saw the amount wagered up 6.4% to £13.5 billion. Turnover was £727.6 million, up 14.7%. For the period, Betfred paid out £54.7 million in betting duty, £87.1 million in gaming machine duty, and £12.8 million in horseracing duty.
The company had a gross profit of £573 million, and EBITDA was up 43.2% to £119.4 million. Administrative expenses were up 8.1% to £478.6 million, with goodwill and license related costs up £18.9 million.
There was a £119.6 writedown of the retail business, and another £2.7 million factor was thrown in, resulting in a loss of £41.4 million. Once costs were taken out, the loss was £43.8 million, but this was reduced by a £3 million tax benefit, generating a £40.7 million financial loss for the year.