UK bookmakers Betfred have seen a combination of new taxes and some lucky punters lead to a net loss in its most recent fiscal year.For the year ending at the end of September, 2015, Betfred saw an operating loss of £76.7 million, which is quite the swing from the £31.5 million profit the bookies saw in the 78 weeks leading up to the end of September, 2014.
Point of consumption tax
Betfred was hit hardest, as all betting retailers online and retail in the UK have, by the new point of consumption tax and the rise in Machine Games Duty. Betfred claim that £16.3 million has been lost due to these factors.All is all, there was £87.3 million worth of exceptional items suffered by Betfred, including a one-off good will impairment that came with the closure of Betfred’s Australian site in December, 2014.The Australian arm of Betfred failed to gain any real traction due to the highly competitive and “overpopulated” nature of the Aussie market.
Unfavourable results
Betfred’s weekly turnover rose £30 million to over £200 million, but this was undone by unfavourable sporting results throughout the year.When it comes to racing and sporting results leading to lucky punters and losses for bookmakers, it has been said that Betfred.com and Totesport.com were said to have suffered “the most significant impact of these challenges.” 
Betfred’s contribution to UK racing was up by £500k to over £13 million, which is considerably above its £9 million commitment, but that may not stop the fallout from Betfred boss Fred Dunne refusing to sign up for UK racing’s new Authorised Betting Partner Scheme.Even with the increased contribution, this may still lead to fallout from UK racing when Betfred’s Tote monopoly comes to an end in 2018.