Inside the accounts · How does bet365 really make its money?
bet365 kept £4bn from punters, then paid out Stoke City as a dividend
bet365 kept £4bn of what gamblers staked in 2024/25, and won't say which countries it came from. Its 63-page annual report shows how a bet becomes turnover, where the money goes, and how much of it goes back to the family that owns it. Where a figure says something about how a bookmaker works, we explain it.
In 60 words
The answer
Gross win rose 9% to £4.04bn, but costs rose faster, so pre-tax profit fell from £627m to £349m. Direct costs, which include gambling duties and levies, rose 31%; the move into newly regulated markets and leaving others cost more. The family took £354m in dividends, and £130m went to its charity. A £3.1bn pile of cash and investments sits behind it.
The rhythm of the business
How a bet becomes turnover
A bookmaker's turnover isn't what people stake. It's what bet365 keeps after paying out winnings and free bets: the "gross win". Four notes in the accounts show how a customer's money moves through the business.
The money isn't bet365's yet
Customers' balances and unsettled bets are owed back to them and held in segregated accounts.
£380m owed to customersTurnover is the gross win
Turnover "represents gains and losses from betting activity", stated net of "marketing inducements", such as free bets and boosts.
£4.04bn kept after winningsThe duty follows the customer
"Duty and other overseas levies are charged … based on the prevailing duty and levy rates applicable … where bets are placed."
Direct costs £897m, up 31%Dormant accounts are charged
In some countries an account untouched for 365 days pays a fee, as its terms allow. The accounts show it separately for the first time this year.
£25.3m of dormant account chargesThe profit and loss account
The business on one page
- Totals
- Costs and charges
- Income and credits
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income, p23; notes 7 to 10.
of every £100 of gross win was left as operating profit from betting and gaming. The £1.46bn investment portfolio added another £3.00.
of every £100 went straight out as direct costs, which include the gambling duties and levies charged in the countries where customers bet.
- Direct costs · £22.21
- Staff · £17.34
- Other admin, net of other income · £54.81
- Operating profit · £5.64
p23; notes 3 and 9.
Turnover
Where the money comes from
Sport and casino. Sports revenue grew 5% and gaming 25%. The directors credit "a successful UEFA Euro 2024 tournament and expansion into new locally regulated markets", despite one week less of trading than the year before.
No map. The accounts give no split by country: "such disclosure would be severely prejudicial to the interests of the Group." They do list the licences: Great Britain, Ireland, much of Europe, Australia, Ontario, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Serbia and a growing number of US states, most recently Kansas and Maryland.
Money made on money. Bank interest, dividends and gains on the investment portfolio brought in £121m. That's more than half of operating profit.
- 2023/24 (53 weeks)
- 2024/25
p23, note 2 (p39).
Costs
Where it goes
Note 3, p40; note 9, p43.
- Sports and gaming operations: 8,452
- Managers and supervisors: 938
- Stoke City, to July: 72
Note 3, p39; strategic report p7.
Staff. Staff costs were £700m for an average of 9,462 people, about £74,000 each. By the year end sports and gaming employed 10,056, up from 9,145.
Software. £123m went on developing software, all charged to profit as it was spent: the directors treat it as a running cost, not an asset.
Leaving markets. The directors decided some countries "no longer fell within the long-term sustainable revenue category". Closing them cost £59m: £47m to end contracts and £12m to reorganise.
The highest-paid director
Up from £95m. The accounts don't name them. The four directors shared £130m.
Currency losses
bet365 takes bets in many currencies and manages the risk by "matching of assets and liabilities in those different currencies", not by hedging.
Tax rate
£89m of tax on £339m of profit. Most of it, £84m, is overseas tax, plus £21m under the new Pillar Two global minimum tax.
The balance sheet
The £3.1bn pile, and what it's for
bet365 ends the year with £1.64bn in the bank and a £1.46bn portfolio of shares, bonds and trade investments: £3.1bn in all. The balance sheet shows no bank borrowing.
Some of it isn't bet365's: £380m is owed to customers and matched by segregated cash. Barclays also holds cash cover for €48.6m of bank guarantees that regulators ask for before a new market opens.
The portfolio isn't hedged, because the directors consider "the diversity in the investment portfolio is appropriate to cover any individual equity price risk". It gained £46m in the year, after £155m the year before.
Balance sheet p24; notes 17 and 18, p53.
- Listed shares · 57.6%
- Cash and bonds · 26.4%
- Unlisted trade investments · 16.0%
Note 17, p53; directors' report p13.
- Totals
- Costs and charges
- Income and credits
Consolidated statement of cash flows, p28.
Ownership
Who owns it, and what they take out
- 2023/24
- 2024/25
Notes 3 and 11; directors' report p14; strategic report p6.
Dividends to the directors
Of £354m declared, £342m went to the directors, who are family members plus one other. £314m was paid in cash.
Owed to Denise Coates
At the year end, up from £31m: dividends and salary "periodically drawn down by the directors as and when required".
UK tax contribution
Up from £364m, including tax on the dividends. The company's own figure, from the strategic report.
A family transfer
What happened to Stoke City
On 8 July 2024 bet365 handed Stoke City Football Club, its stadium and its training ground to John Coates as a "dividend in specie": a dividend paid in assets, not cash. It was valued at £40m, against £138.8m of net assets on the books, so the group recorded a £98.8m loss on the demerger.
All loans between the club and the group were waived. The club lost £10.1m in its final months inside the group, after £30.3m the year before.
In the directors' words
The risks they name
…a number of markets no longer fell within the long-term sustainable revenue category. As such, the decision was made … to cease operations in those markets.
Strategic report, p5
Customer claims to the value of £30.4m … were received by the Group in relation to historic activity in certain territories, primarily Austria and Germany.
Note 25, p59. £2.3m is provided for.
…in March 2024, AUSTRAC has initiated an enforcement investigation into Hillside (Australia New Media) Pty Limited's compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
Note 25, p59. No provision; too early to predict.
Two years side by side
Year on year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross win (turnover), sports and gaming | £4,036.2m | £3,696.1m |
| Direct costs | £896.5m | £686.8m |
| Admin costs | £2,937.4m | £2,612.7m |
| Operating profit | £227.6m | £396.6m |
| Investment returns | £121.0m | £230.0m |
| Pre-tax profit, sports and gaming | £348.7m | £626.6m |
| Profit after tax, group | £249.7m | £506.6m |
| Staff costs | £699.9m | £660.5m |
| Average employees | 9,462 | 8,673 |
| Highest-paid director | £104.0m | £94.7m |
| Dividends declared | £353.6m | £110.0m |
| Donation to the Denise Coates Foundation | £130.0m | £120.0m |
| Cash and investments | £3,100.8m | £3,207.5m |
| Net assets | £2,776.4m | £2,971.1m |
2023/24 was a 53-week period. Stoke City is shown separately as a discontinued operation in both years.
Quick answers
Questions about bet365
How does bet365 really make its money?
Gross win rose 9% to £4.04bn, but costs rose faster, so pre-tax profit fell from £627m to £349m. Direct costs, which include gambling duties and levies, rose 31%; the move into newly regulated markets and leaving others cost more. The family took £354m in dividends, and £130m went to its charity. A £3.1bn pile of cash and investments sits behind it.
Does bet365 say which countries its money comes from?
No. Its accounts say a geographical analysis of turnover 'would be severely prejudicial to the interests of the Group'. It lists licences in more than 20 territories, including Great Britain, much of Europe, Australia, Ontario, Brazil and several US states.
What is bet365's turnover?
£4,036m of gross win in the 52 weeks to 30 March 2025: what it kept from betting and gaming after paying out winnings and free bets, up 9% on the year before.
How much did bet365 pay in dividends?
£353.6m was declared in 2024/25, including £40m for Stoke City, which was handed over as a dividend in kind. £342.4m of the dividends went to the directors.
Keep going
Read next
bet365 grew but earned less: gross win rose £340m, while duties, new markets and leaving old ones ate the gain. It is still a cash machine with no debt and a £3.1bn pile, and in a weaker year it paid out more in dividends than its operations generated in cash.
- All figures come from bet365 Group Limited's consolidated accounts for the 52 weeks to 30 March 2025, signed on 24 November 2025 and audited by RSM UK Audit LLP. Page numbers are the ones printed in the filing.
- Unless stated, figures are for the continuing sports and gaming business. Stoke City, demerged in July 2024, is shown separately. The prior year was 53 weeks.
- Figures are rounded from the £000 figures in the accounts. Hover over, or tab to, any bar for its exact value.