UK Tote 'resonating' with racing fans as group's accounts claim further progress

The UK Tote Group has hailed what it described as a year of "significant progress" according to its latest set of accounts lodged with Companies House.

Underlying earnings, which the group claimed was the fairest representation of the performance of the business, were up 38 per cent to £2.9 million in the year to September 25, 2022, although the group's operating loss widened to £6.2m from £5.1m.

An investment proposal document circulated in the summer of 2019 by the Alizeti consortium that became the UK Tote Group had predicted consolidated earnings would be in profit by £18m in 2021-22, but that was before the upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The accounts revealed that UK-host pool wagers in 2022 had reached £533 million, up from £413m in 2021, "reflecting the gradual reduction in Covid-19 restrictions as well as underlying like-for-like growth".

The period represented the third year of the group's full ownership of the Tote since its purchase from Betfred in October 2019, which was described as "a period of significant progress both domestically and internationally".

The Tote said the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic had "significantly reduced" in 2022 and that trading had been resilient.

However, it added the effects of the pandemic on its business had continued and new economic challenges had emerged with the cost of living crisis which would "continue to cause both challenge and uncertainty through 2023".

In its deal to buy the Tote, the group purchased the share capital of TPoolco Limited, the business-to-business arm of the Tote which includes Tote Direct, as well as that of TDCO Limited, which operates the online Tote betting brand direct to customers.

TPoolco produced "another strong performance" with ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) of £27.8m, up from £25.1m the previous year.

However, TDCO generated an ebitda loss of £14.9m compared to a loss of £13.1m in 2021. The Tote said this part of the business had required "significant cost infrastructure investment", which had formed part of the original business plan, in order to "build an important direct-to-consumer business for the future".

The group also made payments of £7m as part of its promise to pay the tracks involved in racecourse pool betting operation Britbet at least £50m over seven years.

Susannah Gill: "Encouraging levels of growth"

Communications and corporate affairs director Susannah Gill said: “In our third financial year as owners of the Tote, up to September 2022, there continued to be encouraging levels of growth, with the UK-host pool flow up 30 per cent year-on-year and a 53 per cent growth in digital active customers on tote.co.uk.

"This was set within the context of a sector facing many challenges in the UK illustrating that the many improvements we have made to both the Tote’s customer experience, and value proposition, are now resonating with racing fans.

"As co-chair of the World Tote Association we are continuing to strengthen our international relationships, including a new five-year deal with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and expansion of World Pool which is bringing significant new income to British and Irish racing."

Sunday's Irish Derby meeting – the first Curragh card to be part of the global commingling Tote project World Pool – and the Deutsches Derby – the first World Pool race to be staged in Germany – produced combined total turnover of £24.9m/€28.9m.

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