April 2016

The end of March is always a good moment to look back and draw some conclusions for the first quarter of the year. It has been a rough start for the bookmakers in Britain with the new taxations introduced on free bets. Those will come into play starting from the 1st August next year but have already been officially confirmed. Thankfully though, few weeks back, major players as Ladbrokes and William Hill saw their shares rising with traders explaining the peak with the British budget announced and the fact that it did not unveil any new taxes on the so called “sin-sector”. Ladbrokes’ shares rose as well with a huge 8.8% (before settling back to the still positive 4.9% higher). William Hill’s and Paddy Power/Betfair shares rose respectively 3.3% and 1.7%.

Still, maybe it is too early to celebrate – the Gross Gaming Yield (GGY) bands for gaming duty for UK casino operators are set to be increased for the accounting periods starting today or after (1st April 2016). The measure was confirmed even though it is still not clear what the increase will be precisely. At present, it is set in the Finance Act of 2015 and ranges between 15% and 50%, with 15% being paid for the first £2.3m GGY. For the next £1.6m operators owe the crown 20%, 30% for the £2.8m mark, 40% on £5.6m and 50% on the remainder.

It has not yet been revealed what the specific increases will be, but the changes will be made clear in the Finance Bill 2016 and will be in line with retail price index for accounting periods starting on or after 1 April. The bookies liable to pay that duty will have to go through the trouble of submitting not one but two returns – on for the interim period (3 months after the introduction) and another full one at the end of the 6 months accounting period. Just to clarify, all this applies to casino operators only. On the bright side, tax rates are said to not be expecting an increase in the near future, so let’s hope there will not be any nasty surprises there.

In other news, Sky Bet announced they are opening a graduate software academy. Pretty smart move if you ask me. They are investing £1.5 million in a center based in Leeds, UK, and a team of 25(ish) young and talented minds will join the academy in July this year. Andy Burton (Sky Betting & Gaming CTO) commented “By investing in graduates now we hope to play our part in ensuring there’s a pipeline of tech talent in Yorkshire. I look forward to welcoming the first grads in the summer.”

The Swedish Yggdrasil Gaming scooped “Software Supplier of the Year” for its futuristic unique games. They bagged the award on the 9th International Gaming Awards. It is their first one and they gladly accepted it. The company just rolled out officially on the UK market after being granted a license last December. They already have some major UK operators under their belt. Way to go!

Aaaand to finish on a positive, Titanbet got themselves a new brand ambassador – Liverpool legend John Barnes. He will be joining the team for the 2015-16 football season, much to the happiness of his fans. John has an official exclusive Titanbet blog where he is giving advice and commentaries on the world of online sports gambling. Pretty fun.

So, that’s it for now, you’ve been updated, feel free to come back for more soon!