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位于英国斯托克城的日博 BET365 网络博彩公司截至到2011年3月31日的年税前利润是9100万英镑。因为公司持有英超斯托克城足球俱乐部的大部分股份，因此支付了740万英镑的俱乐部损失。
投注量增加58%，总共是5.01亿英镑。科茨家族老板皮特、女儿丹尼斯和儿子约翰总共获得了2500万英镑的公司分红。
Bet365 continues its winning streak as wagers rise by 58%
Online bookmaker reports £91m profit despite shouldering losses from Stoke City FC
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 December 2011 19.38 GMT
The huge popularity of betting on sporting events while they are taking place has helped boost the takings of Britain's biggest online bookmaker, bet365, making the Stoke-based company bigger than William Hill's and Ladbrokes' online businesses put together.
Although the company has no presence on the high street, bet365 is one Britain's biggest online success stories, with takings for the year to 31 March rising 22% to £501m – a turnover almost as large as online grocer Ocado – as bets rose 58%.
Latest accounts for bet365, best known for its TV adverts featuring actor Ray Winstone that promote the latest in-play odds during televised sporting events, show that the Coates family, who own the business, took out a £25m dividend for the third year running.
The group made a pre-tax profit of £91m despite absorbing rising losses from its majority stake in Premier League football club Stoke City. Bet365's share of losses from the club, which is chaired by 73-year-old bookmaker, serial entrepreneur and Labour donor Peter Coates, almost doubled to £7.4m.
Meanwhile, profits from online betting and gaming operations in Stoke and Gibraltar stayed broadly flat at £93.7m, on turnover of £439m, after bet365 invested heavily in internet and mobile technology as well as its expensive advertising campaign.
The business is run by Peter Coates's accountant daughter Denise and to a lesser extent by her lawyer brother John, both of whom worked for the family's regional betting shop chain before the business was sold to Coral.
Bet365 was started from a single portable building with funding from her father's shops business by Denise in 2000. It is now said to employ more than 1,400 staff, making it a significant contributor to the economy in Stoke.
The group is the last major online bookmaker still on the UK mainland, after rival Ladbrokes and William Hill last year shifted operations offshore with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Bet365 also has operations in Gibraltar, where it takes casino, bingo and poker wagers.
The soaring success of the group has left publicity-shy Denise Coates arguably the UK's most successful self-made businesswoman. She owns just over half the shares in bet365, which have generated dividend payouts in the last three years totalling £37.5m. If she is the group's highest paid director, accounts filed with Companies House suggest she also received pay and pension contributions of £4.5m last year, up from £1.3m in 2010.
Bet365 is often most closely associated with Peter Coates, but in an interview two years ago, he said: "What's nice is that Denise and John have done this themselves. I get the credit as the figurehead, but it should go to them… We've never sought media attention and we don't seek it now, but we've a lot of people working here, and it's good for them, and good for Stoke."
Bet365 does not disclose which countries its revenues come from but the business is acknowledged as the clear market leader in online sports bookmaking in the UK. In addition the site is available in 17 languages and reportedly serves 6 million customers worldwide. It has recently been exploring moves into newly licensed markets of Australia, the Netherlands and Spain.
In recent months the group has also been lobbying hard in Westminster for ministers to consider the impact of proposed online gambling tax changes on its business. In a rare interview with trade journal eGaming Review, Denise Coates said: "Our position is different to most as we currently have our entire sports operation licensed and taxed here. As such we are in the untenable position where we are paying 15% gross profits tax on, for example, our Spanish customers, while at the same time being liable to pay a further 25% to the Spanish authorities in respect of the same player. Clearly, such a position is unsustainable. Our position is that where there is sensible regulation and taxation we will take a licence."
The group's continued bankrolling of loss-making Stoke City is thanks to Peter Coates, a lifelong fan. Accounts show the club's wage bill rose from £44.7m to £48.2m last year. The bet365 chairman enjoys strong support among the club's fans, but that has not always been the case: a previous spell as controlling owner of Stoke City between 1989 and 1999 saw him forced out as chairman on a wave of supporter frustration at disappointing performance on the pitch.
Stoke City was sold to Icelandic investors, only for bet365 to reacquire a majority stake in 2006 for a reputed £5m. In the 2007-8 season the club finished second in the Championship and were promoted to the Premier League.
While Peter Coates gave £150,000 to the Labour party between 2004 and 2005 in a personal capacity, bet365 has a strong track in donations to charities. Last year it gave more than £400,000 to charitable causes, with majority going to a responsible-gambling charity and the rest going to disability, children's and local groups. |
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发表于 2011-12-30 09:52
