Bet365 sees profits rise 92%

Bet365, the online gambling group that also owns Stoke City football club, announced a 92 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £410.2m after a 43 per cent rise in sports gamblers.

A person close to the company said he expected it would continue to grow organically even as its rivals launch huge mergers to try to boost their scale. In recent months, Ladbrokes and Coral have announced a tie-up and Betfair and Paddy Power have also said they will merge.

“Do I think that Betfair and Paddy Power are two huge and strong competitors, especially in the UK and do I think that together, under the leadership of Breon Corcoran, they will be even more so? I am sure they will be, but we just kind of get on with our own thing,” he said, adding that he doubted Bet365 would grow by buying up its rivals.

Bet365, which grew staff numbers by 9 per cent to just under 3,000, is the biggest employer in Stoke-on-Trent. The company is half-owned by Denise Coates and a quarter-owned by her brother John.

The group paid its owners a £75m dividend in the year to the end of March, down from £95m a year before. It also made a £10m donation to its charitable foundation, set up in 2014 with a £105.5m. The foundation has made donations to cancer sufferers in Stoke, to Oxfam and to the aid effort after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Bet365 was already paying tax in the UK on its online bets, so has not been adversely affected by a new point-of-consumption tax that is levied on companies with offshore gambling hubs.

But the company has relocated its overseas gaming operations to Gibraltar to simplify its licensing status as it expands into several foreign territories. A person close to the company said Bet365 expected to have gaming licenses in 12 countries shortly.

Meanwhile, Stoke City, a Premier League football club, made a £800,000 profit in the period, compared with a loss of £5m for 2014. Its annual wage bill rose 4 per cent to £62.9m.