Intralot CEO Robeson Reeves has said the Bally’s International Interactive arm will be able to mitigate rising UK gambling taxes.
Intralot acquired Bally’s International Interactive, which is predominantly UK-focused, in October. Reeves became CEO of Intralot in the process.
Speaking on Intralot’s Q3 analyst call yesterday, Reeves said remote gaming duty increasing from 21% to 40% would have a direct impact of £95m on the firm’s EBITDA.
Reeves noted the operator’s ability to mitigate would come from several reductions totalling £50m.
That includes a £15m cut on marketing, a £15m reduction in generosity, a further £15m to be found in Intralot synergies and £5m in “cost-cutting”.
The CEO said: “Such tax increases have happened periodically in our markets and historically have highlighted vulnerability for others, leading to market consolidation and market share growth for companies like Bally’s, who have higher margins than other peers. This will result in fewer players, and I welcome a less competitive environment.
“These changes lead to opportunities. The way I look at it is the strong don’t only survive this. They get much stronger.”
Reeves has previously spoken up Intralot’s potential to become a “consolidator” in the UK market, where it operates the historical Gamesys brands including Jackpotjoy.
The firm claims to be the number two igaming operator in the UK based on market share.
When asked if Intralot would be looking for any bolt-on acquisition opportunities in the wake of the tax hikes, Reeves responded: “I think we’ll have to see what opportunities arise in the market.
“This is obviously day one. We do want to delever in the medium term and continue that delevering pathway. But if there are great opportunities, [such as] an operator which is essentially loss-making and we can absorb that revenue, it depends what price we would have to pay.
“We’re looking at everything. I do already sense that consolidation is here and growth will be driven by a few operators rather than many on the go-forward.”
The UK-facing division is focused on igaming, although sports betting has been rolled out to some brands via a partnership with Kambi. General betting duty is due to rise from 15% to 25% in April 2027.
Reeves added: “Sports betting is a small percentage of our revenue in the UK. We expect sports revenue to triple in the next year – that was prior to these changes.
“So we may be reviewing our product mix further because of the tax differential between igaming and sports in 2026.
“There’s quite a few levers to pull, but we are small in sports. I guess the narrative is that we’re small in sports, but we’ll grow it.
“We can mitigate this tax rate even though we are heavily concentrated to the highest tax burden. We can mitigate it better than others because our EBITDA margins are sitting already in excess of 10 to 15 percentage points higher.”
Yesterday, Intralot reported “stable” financials for the first nine months of 2025 ahead of its acquisition of Bally’s International Interactive.
The post Intralot CEO on UK tax hikes: “The strong don’t only survive this. They get much stronger” first appeared on EGR Intel.
Robeson Reeves makes bullish comments as he becomes the first UK-focused CEO to face analyst questions following the historic Budget
The post Intralot CEO on UK tax hikes: “The strong don’t only survive this. They get much stronger” first appeared on EGR Intel.