2017 proved to be quite challenging for 888 Holdings, something that was proven by the decline in year-over-year revenue that the company reported from 2016 to 2017. The company cited their withdrawal from Poland, Slovakian, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Australia markets among others to be the main reason for the decline. As such, if the now inoperative markets are taken out of the equation, 888 Holdings’ revenue decline comes in at only 1 percent in 2017. According to them, this demonstrates “the resilience of the brand and its continued appeal to recreational players.”
However, overall statistics in the full year report that was published last Tuesday showed that the poker operator’s revenue amounted to $77.9 million which represents a 7.7 percent decrease from the $84.4 in revenue that it earned in 2016.
In the report, the company’s officials quoted the Poker Industry Pro($) statement that read, “Poker experienced a challenging 2017. Performance was impacted by the group’s decision to withdraw from certain markets, in line with the group’s strategic focus on operating in sustainable regulated markets.”
The inclusion of the statement served as an assurance that the decision to withdraw certain key markets was a strategic move for the company and that the decline in revenue was expected to affect the bottom line for a short while before everything stabilized again.
On the bright side, the revenue report also happened to bear some good news for the 888 Holdings. For instance, the group saw a 22 percent increase in the average revenue per player for poker as well as a 20 percent increase in the average active player days. This can be safely considered to be a demonstration of the underlying market strength that the group has.
“The group remains focused on further enhancing the player experience on mobile devices and the Group’s BLAST product continues to prove popular with customers and drive activity.”
The group’s sports betting vertical also proved to be another silver lining and this is certainly bound to get better as the U.S. is on the verge of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that could bring legal sports betting to more states. 888 Holdings’ sports betting vertical posted a hefty 45 percent year-over-year revenue increase to $75.5 million which makes it a close contender of the number two position among the group’s products – the spot is currently occupied by poker.