888 Expects 7% Drop in Revenue in Q3

Online betting group 888 Holdings has announced that they're expecting a drop in revenues of about 7% during the third quarter of the fiscal year largely due to leaving the Dutch gaming market as well as a tougher regulatory body in the UK.

The company said that they're expecting revenues to be around £449 million for the quarter, which would be a drop from £484 million last year. The trading update is incorporating the non-US assets of William Hill and extrapolates them as if the assets were in 888's possession for both time periods. The large drop in the UK market comes from the national mourning period after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which led to a number of match cancellations and postponements.

888 also pulled out of the Dutch market while it awaits a gaming licence, which also has negatively impacted the company's bottom line.

888 stated that they're going to be looking at different business synergies to try to maximize on savings in order to secure its bottom line as the economic environment becomes more challenging.

In a statement, 888 CEO Itai Pazner said, "Having completed our transformational combination with William Hill, I am pleased to report that during Q3 our teams continued to make rapid progress in integrating these two market-leading and highly complementary businesses.

"This has enabled us to progress towards our new target operating model, while delivering a series of 'quick win' synergies, that will benefit our adjusted EBITDA margin for the second half of this year.

"Revenues during the third quarter continued the trends we have seen in recent quarters, with relatively resilient trading across our main international markets and in our retail estate, but continued pressure on our UK online revenues in light of the ongoing impact of the enhanced player safety measures.

"We are changing the mix of our business to a lower spending, more recreational player base that gives us confidence in the long-term potential for our UK business."

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