Betfred has posted a £128.8m post-tax profit for the 78-week period ending 30 March 2025, flipping a £71.7m post-tax loss from its previous report.
As per filings with Companies House, the Warrington-based bookmaker’s revenue was up from £908m to £1.5bn, although its previous filing only covered a 52-week period, ending 1 October 2023.
Betfred said £894.8m of this revenue came from its retail estate, with the figure rising from £577m. Online revenue amounted to £563.6m, up from £331m.
Management said a geographical breakdown of performance had not been disclosed as it would be “severely prejudicial to the interests of the group”.
Operating profit also soared, rising from £467,000 to £209.7m.
The company said the increases came due to the longer reporting period, as well as an “increase in performance across all divisions” and cost-savings from “exiting unprofitable overseas businesses”.
Those increases came despite the development of Betfred’s online platform resulting in costs of £88.3m.
Betfred also spent £22.9m on R&D during the reporting period.
However, the operator did note a “irrecoverable” loan of £60.2m had been pegged during the period as part of its inter-group loans to support US expansion.
Betfred also noted there was a £40m provision against “onerous contracts” in the US.
The firm’s US efforts were shut down last year, with the operator having failed to make a tangible cut through in the States.
Former Betfred US boss Kresimir Spajic joined Allwyn last year as its new digital CEO.
In terms of other market exits, Betfred disposed of Betfred Spain, its online Spain-facing business, for £2m. The group said it had secured a £1.6m profit on the deal.
The bookmaker said its average number of staff during the period was 9,622, with total aggregate payroll costs leaping from £12m to £15.8m.
The highest paid director, who was unnamed, was paid £912,000 during the reporting period, up from £591,000.
Betfred added that “key management personnel” were paid a combined £7.3m, up from £3.9m in the previous report.
The company continues to hold a 5.99% stake in horseracing streaming provider SIS, with Betfred receiving a £2m dividend in the period ending 30 March 2025.
The publication of the latest earnings report comes as Betfred faces a threat from UK gambling tax hikes due this year and in 2027.
The Autumn Budget included moving remote gaming duty up from 21% to 40% from April 2026, with remote general betting duty rising from 15% to 25% in April 2027.
Fred Done, Betfred’s founder, had previously warned that such stark increases could see the entire retail estate shut down.
However, in the report’s ‘subsequent events’ sub-section, Betfred said there were no events post-reporting date “significant enough to be disclosed in these financial statements”.
The report’s publication comes after Betfred did not air any UK horseracing across its retail estate and online on Sunday, 4 January, after its commercial rights deal with ARC was not renewed.
The post Betfred reports £129m post-tax profit after US exit and Spanish business sale first appeared on EGR Intel.
UK bookmaker says improved revenue and EBITDA was driven by cost savings and an “increase in performance across all divisions”
The post Betfred reports £129m post-tax profit after US exit and Spanish business sale first appeared on EGR Intel.