Stoke-on-Trent gambling giant bet365 created 1,578 new jobs during the last financial year, according to its latest accounts. The Etruria-based firm’s workforce increased from 7,567 to 9,145.
The company also returned to making a pre-tax profit of £626.6m in the year to March 31, 2024 – up from a loss of £62.2m on the previous 12 months, the newly-filed accounts with Companies House reveal. The profit is reduced to £596.3m once Stoke City’s losses are taken into account.
Meanwhile, turnover jumped from £3.41bn to £3.71bn. Billionaire bet365 boss Denise Coates’ cut her own salary by £126 million despite the huge profit.
The company’s highest-paid director and controlling shareholder paid herself £94.7m – down from the £220.7m she took home in the previous year. In addition to her pay, Ms Coates pocketed a share of the £110m dividend the group issued for the year, a rise from the £100m pay out in the 12 months to March 2023. This means that her overall remuneration is believed to be more than £150m.
Ms Coates – the UK’s youngest female billionaire – made her fortune as a pioneer of online gambling in the early 2000s, building her father Peter Coates’ business empire. She paid just £2,000 for her company’s domain name, and now owns around half of her family’s company. At the age of 57, she is worth an estimated £7.5bn.
Famously shunning publicity, Ms Coates lives with her husband, Richard, vice-chairman at Stoke City who runs the property side of the business, in a farmhouse in Cheshire. A statement in the accounts from Ms Coates said: “Revenues (in sports and gaming) increased by nine per cent, despite the lack of a major football tournament, as sports revenues grew 11 per cent augmented by an additional week of trading activity and our expansion into newly-regulated US states.
“Administrative expenses saw a year-on-year decrease driven by a reduction in both director remuneration and exchange losses incurred. Employee staff costs increased with headcount growth with 9,145 staff employed within the group’s sports, gaming and associated support operations at the end of the financial period.”
It added: “The changing worldwide gambling and leisure industries are likely to present opportunities for enhancing the group’s presence worldwide. The group will continue to invest in IT infrastructure and technology around the world to ensure it has both the flexibility and scalability to evolve with internal and external developments.
“The directors are satisfied with the financial strength reported on the balance sheet. Due to the long-term cash generative nature of the Group, the directors are confident that the balance sheet will continue to remain strong.”
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