888 Well in the Black

888 Holdings, owner of many successful gambling operations both in and outside of the UK, has declared pre-tax profits of 82% which sees it continue to boom for the fifth successive year.

The company’s sports betting, poker, bingo and casino arms have led to a significant increase in share prices – by 7.6% to 252p per share which is the highest price in 11 years – and they are offering a total special dividend of 19.4c per share.

In fact, the sports betting and casino parts of their operation have grown far beyond projected expectation – revenue has increased by 49% and 21% respectively – largely helped by a strong advertising campaign and a piqued interested in gambling thanks to events such as Euro 2016.

888 Holdings’ revenue has risen to a colossal $520.8m and not surprisingly Investec analysts rate their stock a buy.

888’s chief executive, Itai Frieberger, was thrilled with the figures and said: “2016 was another fantastic year for 888 during which we continued to deliver very strong organic revenue and profit growth. This was again underpinned by further outstanding progress in casino, sport and across regulated markets.

“888’s further expansion in the UK, Spain, and Italy is a strong demonstration of the group’s ability to drive excellent growth and build leading market positions across regulated markets as the industry continues to head in this direction. These strong results demonstrate the truly outstanding underlying momentum in the business.

“Current trading since the start of the year remains healthy with average daily revenue more than 11% above the previous year at constant currency. The board continues to see a number of significant growth opportunities for 888 both in new and existing markets and we look forward to another exciting year of progress.”

As well as 888 clearly being among the most risk-free place to wager your money it is also expected that the company’s share price will attract more interest from speculators on spread betting sites.

888 showed their charitable side this football season by offering fans of four Championship clubs it sponsors free travel to all midweek away games before Christmas along with a promotion that offered a free £5 bet every time their team scored.