Stoke City Owner Bet365 Sees 92% Rise In Profits

Bet365, the online gambling group that owns EPL side Stoke City, announced a "92 percent rise in pretax profits" to £410.2M ($621.5M) after a 43% rise in sports gamblers, according to Malcolm Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. A person close to the company said that he expected it would "continue to grow organically even as its rivals launch huge mergers to try to boost their scale." Bet365, which "grew staff numbers by 9 percent to just under 3,000," is the biggest in Stoke-on-Trent. The group paid its owners a £75M ($113.6M) dividend "in the year to the end of March," down from £95M ($145M) a year before. It also made a £10M ($15.2M) donation "to its charitable foundation," set up in '14 with a £105.5M ($160M). Meanwhile, Stoke City made a £800,000 ($1.2M) profit in the period, compared with a loss of £5M for '14. Its "annual wage bill rose four percent" to £62.9M ($95.3M) (FT, 9/29).