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Online gambling company 888 upped its dividend and upgraded its guidance after reporting that first-half profit more than doubled, led by a increase in casino revenue and customer growth.
The company said it now anticipated that 888 will achieve an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA outcome for 2020 'significantly ahead' of its prior expectations.
For the six months ended 30 June 2020, pre-tax profit increased 130% to US$50.9 million year-on-year as revenue rose 37$ to $379 million.
Casino revenue increased by 48% to US$260.0 million.
The interim dividend was rasied to 3.2 cents per share from 3 cents per share and included an additional one-off 2.8 cents per share bringing the total to 6.0 cents per share.
'During the third quarter to-date 888 has continued to trade ahead of the board's expectations with average daily revenue 56 % higher than the prior year,' the company said.
'This performance reflects the Group's high levels of customer acquisition during the year to date as well as the benefit from the structural shift towards online services that has accelerated across several consumer-facing industries during recent months,' it added.