Bet365 Chief Denise Coates Earns £280 Million Despite Decline In Profits

Denise Coates, chief executive of Bet365, has received around £280 million in pay from the gambling group in the past year, despite a significant fall in company profits. The recently published annual accounts show that her total remuneration for the year ending last March rose dramatically from £159 million to £281 million. The sum accounts for both her salary and a large share of the £354 million in dividends paid to directors, owing to her majority shareholding. Over the past eight years, her cumulative earnings from Bet365 now total approximately £1.8 billion.

The company, based in Stoke-on-Trent and the city’s largest private employer, reported a 43 percent decline in pre-tax profits, falling to £339 million over 52 weeks. This decrease in profitability accompanies the group’s continued international expansion, with new gambling licences secured in Brazil, Peru, and Serbia, and launches in additional United States markets including Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kansas, and Maryland. The group has also invested in a new office in Denver.

Despite the fall in profits, Bet365’s overall revenue increased by 9 percent, reaching £4 billion year-on-year, fuelled chiefly by a 25 percent growth in gaming revenues from online casinos, poker, and bingo. Sports betting revenue was 5 percent higher than the preceding year.

This financial performance precedes newly announced tax measures set to raise the remote gaming duty for online casino games to 40 percent from 21 percent next April, and the remote betting rate to 25 percent for online sports betting (excluding horse racing), up from 15 percent in April 2027. These regulatory changes are expected to have significant financial implications for operators such as Bet365.

Denise Coates, a University of Sheffield graduate, leads the business with her brother John, who jointly holds the chief executive title. The siblings took over the family’s betting shops in 2000, mortgaged the assets, acquired the Bet365 name, and launched the business from modest premises. Their father, Peter Coates, is also closely linked to the firm’s origins.

A corporate restructuring last year saw Stoke City Holdings separated from the core Bet365 operation, transferring the controlling stake to John Coates and resulting in an expected loss of £118 million. The Coates family continues to rank among the country’s leading taxpayers, with a recent contribution of £482 million to the exchequer, including tax on dividends.

The group’s charitable activities continue as well, with Bet365 increasing its annual contribution to the Denise Coates Foundation to £130 million, having already donated substantial sums to arts, education, and healthcare projects. Denise Coates, awarded a CBE for services to the community and business, maintains a low public profile and is known for her philanthropic focus alongside corporate leadership.