888 Holdings’ finance boss to leave amid a slowdown in online gambling

Gambling group 888 Holdings has revealed a slowdown in demand over the past year as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions saw many customers return to betting shops.

Retail sales rose 54 per cent to £519 million last year, but this was offset by a 15 per cent drop in digital sales, taking total sales down £57 million to £1.85 million.

In addition to a deterioration in trading, William Hill’s owner told investors on Friday that his chief financial officer Yariv Dafna will leave at the end of March after just two and a half years in the position.

Dafna is credited with overseeing a period of sweeping change at the Gibraltar-based company.

888’s online business has also been impacted by the decision to temporarily suspend its Dutch operations pending new licensing changes and new player security measures introduced in the UK.

Since October online gambling advertisements in the UK have been banned from having a ‘strong’ appeal to young people under the age of 18, meaning they cannot contain images, themes and characters commonly recognized by children.

The new regulations contributed to the group’s revenues falling by 3 percent in the last three months of 2022, despite a boost from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup.

Nevertheless, the company told investors that annual sales and adjusted underlying profit will be in line with expectations, with the latter coming in at £305m to £315m.

888 Holdings shares were 5.4 percent lower at 88.45p just before noon on Friday, making it the second biggest faller on the FTSE 350 Index.

Outgoing CFO Dafna, who replaced Aviad Kobrine after 15 years in the position, joined the company during a pandemic-induced boom in online gambling as betting shops closed around the world.

During his tenure, 888 completed William Hill’s groundbreaking acquisition of casino operator Caesars Entertainment, entering the sports betting market for the first time.

Dafna later negotiated a successful refinancing of the company’s external debt it had built up to fund the £2bn takeover, which also included the purchase of digital gaming brands Redbet and Mr Green.

888 further took advantage of the legalization of sports betting in many U.S. states to form a partnership with Sports Illustrated owner Authentic Brands Group, focusing on gambling and gaming products aimed at U.S. customers.

Prior to his appointment, the Israeli had spent an extended period of time at Internet of Things products business Telit, where he rose to become Chief Financial Officer.

The board of 888 gave no explanation for his departure.