Battle · 6 companies
Bookmakers
Place your bets: who has backed the winner, and who has lost their shirt?
Bet365 leads on 3 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Bet365 is the biggest by turnover at £4,042m, against £1,374m at Paddy Power and Betfair. Ladbrokes Coral keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £14.50 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are up to 12 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Bet365 and William Hill file group accounts that include subsidiaries; Paddy Power and Betfair, Sky Bet and Betfred file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size. Betfred's turnover growth looks like a one-off in the latest accounts (a gain inside a group, an acquisition or a longer accounting period), so it is shown but not counted when picking winners.
Accounts compared: Paddy Power and Betfair to Dec 2024 · Sky Bet to Dec 2025 · Ladbrokes Coral to Dec 2024 · Betfred to Mar 2025 · Bet365 to Mar 2025 · William Hill to Dec 2024
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bet365Bet365 Group Limited | £4,042m | +8.7% | £339m | 8.4% | 9,462 | £74,000 | £427,000 | £2,776m | £1,641m | Mar 2025 | Group |
| 2 | Paddy Power and BetfairPower Leisure Bookmakers Limited | £1,374m | +11.4% | £151m | 11.0% | 2,946 | £59,000 | £466,000 | £606m | £106m | Dec 2024 | Single company |
| 3 | William HillWilliam Hill Limited | £1,215m | -1.0% | -£35m | -2.8% | 9,790 | £28,000 | £124,000 | -£183m | £129m | Dec 2024 | Group |
| 4 | Ladbrokes CoralLadbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited | £1,013m | -1.4% | £147m | 14.5% | 13,574 | £24,000 | £75,000 | £1,326m | £23m | Dec 2024 | n/d |
| 5 | BetfredDone Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited | £867m | +100.7% | £93m | 10.7% | 7,659 | £40,000 | £113,000 | £72m | £11m | Mar 2025 | Single company |
| 6 | Sky BetBonne Terre Gaming Limited | £541m | n/d | £35m | 6.5% | 34 | n/d | n/d | £29m | n/d | Dec 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Bet365
£4,042m
Most pre-tax profit
Bet365
£339m
Highest profit margin
Ladbrokes Coral
14.5%
Fastest-growing turnover
Paddy Power and Betfair
+11.4%
Biggest employer
Ladbrokes Coral
13,574 staff
Highest pay per head
Bet365
£74,000
Most turnover per head
Paddy Power and Betfair
£466,000
Largest net assets
Bet365
£2,776m
Most cash
Bet365
£1,641m
The Takeaway
- Ladbrokes Coral converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £14.50 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £2.85 at William Hill.
- Bet365 is the largest on the top line, £4,042m of turnover, 2.9x Paddy Power and Betfair's £1,374m.
- Paddy Power and Betfair is growing fastest, turnover +11.4% on its own prior year. Ladbrokes Coral and William Hill went backwards.
- Ladbrokes Coral is the biggest employer with 13,574 people; Bet365 pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £74,000.
- Bet365 has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £2,776m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Ladbrokes Coral keeps the most: £14.50 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. William Hill does worst, losing £2.85.
Financing bites hardest at William Hill: £8.17 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Bet365 (£4,042m), Paddy Power and Betfair (£1,374m), William Hill (£1,215m), Ladbrokes Coral (£1,013m), Betfred (£867m), Sky Bet (£541m).
By headcount, Ladbrokes Coral leads with 13,574 employees.
The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: Paddy Power and Betfair to Dec 2024, Sky Bet to Dec 2025, Ladbrokes Coral to Dec 2024, Betfred to Mar 2025, Bet365 to Mar 2025, William Hill to Dec 2024. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Betfred grew fastest, turnover +100.7% on its own prior year, ahead of Paddy Power and Betfair (+11.4%), Bet365 (+8.7%), William Hill (-1.0%), Ladbrokes Coral (-1.4%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Ladbrokes Coral employs the most, 13,574 people, against 9,790 at William Hill.
Bet365 has the highest average staff cost, about £74,000 a head; Ladbrokes Coral the lowest, about £24,000.
Paddy Power and Betfair brings in the most turnover per employee, about £466,000, against £75,000 at Ladbrokes Coral. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Per-head figures are left out for Sky Bet (staff costs under 2% of turnover): the staff are probably employed by another company in the group, so dividing by this company's headcount would mislead.
Paddy Power and Betfair
2,946
employees, about £59,000 pay a head, £466,000 turnover a head, -1.5% on the year
Sky Bet
34
employees
Ladbrokes Coral
13,574
employees, about £24,000 pay a head, £75,000 turnover a head, -1.1% on the year
Betfred
7,659
employees, about £40,000 pay a head, £113,000 turnover a head, +57.0% on the year
Bet365
9,462
employees, about £74,000 pay a head, £427,000 turnover a head, +9.1% on the year
William Hill
9,790
employees, about £28,000 pay a head, £124,000 turnover a head, -2.8% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Flutter Entertainment Plc
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Paddy Power and Betfair →
Bonne Terre Gaming Limited · 15883599Held by Cyan Bidco Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control.
Who owns Sky Bet →
Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited · 00775667Held by Birchgree Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 8 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Ladbrokes Coral →
Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited · 01277703Held by Betfred Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Betfred →
Bet365 Group Limited · 04241161Held by Denise Coates
An individual recorded as a person with significant control in the 50% to 75% band.
Who owns Bet365 →
William Hill Limited · 04212563Held by 888 Vhl Uk Holdings Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control in the 75% to 100% band.
Who owns William Hill →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Paddy Power and Betfair | Sky Bet | Ladbrokes Coral | Betfred | Bet365 | William Hill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | POWER LEISURE BOOKMAKERS LIMITED | BONNE TERRE GAMING LIMITED | LADBROKES BETTING & GAMING LIMITED | DONE BROTHERS (CASH BETTING) LIMITED | BET365 GROUP LIMITED | WILLIAM HILL LIMITED |
| Company number | 03822566 | 15883599 | 00775667 | 01277703 | 04241161 | 04212563 |
| Incorporated | 1999 | 2024 | 1963 | 1976 | 2001 | 2001 |
| Accounts filed | 5 August 2025 | 20 August 2026 | 30 September 2025 | n/d | 22 December 2025 | 8 July 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £1,233m | n/d | £1,027m | £432m | £3,720m | £1,227m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £146m | n/d | £103m | -£36m | £596m | £30m |
| Staff costs | £173m | £5m | £326m | £303m | £700m | £277m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 12.6% | 0.9% | 32.2% | 35.0% | 17.3% | 22.8% |
| Employees, prior year | 2,990 | n/d | 13,730 | 4,879 | 8,673 | 10,067 |
| Dividends paid | £100m | n/d | n/d | n/d | £314m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Bookmakers: common questions
Who is the biggest of Paddy Power and Betfair, Sky Bet, Ladbrokes Coral, Betfred, Bet365 or William Hill?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m in the year to March 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Bet365: £339m pre-tax in the year to March 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Ladbrokes Coral, with 13,574 employees in its latest accounts.
Paddy Power and Betfair or Sky Bet: which is bigger?
Paddy Power and Betfair, with turnover of £1,374m against £541m at Sky Bet on their latest filings. On margin, Paddy Power and Betfair keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Paddy Power and Betfair or Ladbrokes Coral: which is bigger?
Paddy Power and Betfair, with turnover of £1,374m against £1,013m at Ladbrokes Coral on their latest filings. On margin, Ladbrokes Coral keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Paddy Power and Betfair or Betfred: which is bigger?
Paddy Power and Betfair, with turnover of £1,374m against £867m at Betfred on their latest filings. On margin, Paddy Power and Betfair keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Paddy Power and Betfair or Bet365: which is bigger?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m against £1,374m at Paddy Power and Betfair on their latest filings. On margin, Paddy Power and Betfair keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Paddy Power and Betfair or William Hill: which is bigger?
Paddy Power and Betfair, with turnover of £1,374m against £1,215m at William Hill on their latest filings. On margin, Paddy Power and Betfair keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Sky Bet or Ladbrokes Coral: which is bigger?
Ladbrokes Coral, with turnover of £1,013m against £541m at Sky Bet on their latest filings. On margin, Ladbrokes Coral keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Sky Bet or Betfred: which is bigger?
Betfred, with turnover of £867m against £541m at Sky Bet on their latest filings. On margin, Betfred keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Sky Bet or Bet365: which is bigger?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m against £541m at Sky Bet on their latest filings. On margin, Bet365 keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Sky Bet or William Hill: which is bigger?
William Hill, with turnover of £1,215m against £541m at Sky Bet on their latest filings. On margin, Sky Bet keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ladbrokes Coral or Betfred: which is bigger?
Ladbrokes Coral, with turnover of £1,013m against £867m at Betfred on their latest filings. On margin, Ladbrokes Coral keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ladbrokes Coral or Bet365: which is bigger?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m against £1,013m at Ladbrokes Coral on their latest filings. On margin, Ladbrokes Coral keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Ladbrokes Coral or William Hill: which is bigger?
William Hill, with turnover of £1,215m against £1,013m at Ladbrokes Coral on their latest filings. On margin, Ladbrokes Coral keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Betfred or Bet365: which is bigger?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m against £867m at Betfred on their latest filings. On margin, Betfred keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Betfred or William Hill: which is bigger?
William Hill, with turnover of £1,215m against £867m at Betfred on their latest filings. On margin, Betfred keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Bet365 or William Hill: which is bigger?
Bet365, with turnover of £4,042m against £1,215m at William Hill on their latest filings. On margin, Bet365 keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
Deep dive: what story does Bet365's money tell? →
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