888 Holdings may increase promotions and re-brand to achieve growth

Rachel Rigby April 24, 2024

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888 Holdings may increase promotions and re-brand to achieve growth

Even though 888 Holdings, a listed online betting-and-gaming company surpassed 2024 revenue expectations, according to its Q1 results announced last week, the company may still need to implement changes to achieve growth by year end.

The Q1 report states the revenue during this period amounted to ￡431 million, down 3.2% on-year but ahead of the ￡420 -￡430 million it had predicted; while 888 sportsbook stakes were down 5%, from ￡1.43 billion ($1.78 billion) to ￡1.35 billion.

New strategy

Increasing the sports betting promotions could be part of the new development strategy. A number of competitors offer daily tournaments, other free-to-play offers, and cash prizes, which 888sport currently does not offer as many. At the moment, 888sport offers six sports betting promotions, while its competitor Ladbrokes has 19, and Paddy Power offers 10.

Market retention

Online sports betting stakes in the UK and Ireland dropped by 9% to ￡630.6 million, and sportsbook retail operations fell 4% to ￡393.5 million during Q1. It appears that more customer promotions could improve customer retention, market sources say.

The acquisition of William Hill did not improve 888 retail numbers. Despite it being an iconic brand with 1,400 William Hill betting shops across the UK, 888 retail numbers were still 4% down to ￡393.5 million in Q1. William Hill has great promotions, but these don’t make their way over to 888sport, outsiders commented.

Online growth

Other high street brands, such as Ladbrokes and Coral have also been facing challenges as retail sports betting has slowed down, while online betting is growing. Online casinos have increased a lot in 2024, and the choice of online casinos is overwhelming. To grow revenues, profits, 888 also hopes to enhance its branding and “One Company” approach with the name change. The new name – Evoke is yet to be voted on by the shareholders at the company AGM scheduled for 13 May 2024. Per Widerstrom, the CEO of the group, has led the name change as part of a broader strategic transformation to prioritise the core markets and to reset its operating model with a focus on automation and AI, and to cut costs by removing duplication.
With focus being on core markets in Europe include Denmark, Spain, Italy and the UK, will the re-brand and new strategy be enough to get back its ￡4.48 share price from 2021?