888 pivots to “mass-market proposition” to revive UK fortunes
London-listed operator will change strategy and test new operating models after 18% decline in H1 UK revenues
888 has pledged to pursue a more “mass-market proposition” in the UK as the operator seeks to reverse its fortunes in the market following a H1 downturn.
The London-listed firm saw its share price dip 8% yesterday as UK revenues fell by 18% in the period.
In an analyst call following the results, 888 CEO Itai Frieberger said the firm was “changing [its] strategy in the UK and moving towards more of a mass-market proposition with a focus on consumer protection and responsible gambling”.
The pivot could also be read as a move away from VIP-driven revenue.
“That’s a decision we, as an operator owning our technology can make,” Frieberger added. “We can try new models and we believe that those will bring positive returns in the UK going forward.
Frieberger told EGR yesterday the firm would start regaining market share in the UK as other companies felt the pinch from responsible gaming measures that 888 had already moved past.
888 chief operating officer Itai Pazner said the recreational push would also be helped by the firm’s new Orbit casino platform, launched in the UK in May.
“[Orbit] gives us the brains in the back-end and flexibility and to do clever segmentation and add things to the platform that can add value,” he said.
“For example, the recreational proposition we need to develop in the UK is something we can do with this platform.
“We launched two AI recommendation engines, one we built internally and one built by a third party AI specialist.
“We saw very encouraging results over no recommendations and I’m pleased to say our internal team beat the third party. It shows the ability of the platform and we’re planning a global roll out to all markets by end of year. We have very high hopes for our casino product.”