Tote Group profit drops 4% YoY as total stakes break the £600m mark

UK Tote Group reported gross profit of £33.7m for the period ending 24 September 2023, a 4% year-on-year (YoY) drop.

The pool betting operator saw amounts wagered rise from £548.3m to £601m, a 9% increase YoY, during the reporting period.

Turnover amounted to £40.5m, a 2% drop YoY from £41.3m in the prior 12 months for the Wigan-based firm.

Tote Group defines turnover as amount wagers less amounts payable to winning customers and partners.

Breaking it down by geography, UK turnover rose from £19.3m to £22m while the figure for Rest of World stood at £18.5m, down from the 2022 figure of £22.1m.

UK host pool wagers stood at £577m, up 8% from 2022’s £533m, which the Tote Group said was “reflecting underlying like-for-like growth”.

Operating loss stood at £12.4m for the period ending 24 September 2023, a rise from £6.2m the year prior due to an £8.6m charge of non-cash amortisation of intangible assets and £200,000 for depreciation of tangible fixed assets.

Underlying EBITDA for the year landed at a loss of £3.3m after recording a profit of £2.9m in 2022 due to a reduction in EBITDA from the B2B TPoolco brand and its subsidiaries to £2.2m. 

EBITDA was also down to £3.6m after a profit £3m the year prior.

The organisation noted “financial performance has been negatively impacted by a reduction in wagering volumes outbound into international pools” and said it will deliver a cost efficiency programme in order to see a profit in EBITDA for full year 2024.

Tote Group paid £2.4m on the statutory betting levy, a slight rise from £2.2, and £4.2m in betting duty.

Group salaries rose from £9.8m to £11m – growing 12% YoY, as the total number of staff employed by the business neared the 200 mark.

The group also paid £7.7m to the horseracing industry in 2023, an increase from the £7m given the year prior, while general overheads stood at £3.2m, up from £3m in 2022.