Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell group surged back into the black after losing more than £100m in 2022.
The London-headquartered group, which includes The Health Lottery, property development Westferry Printworks in London and investment arm, N&S Ventures, has posted a pre-tax profit of £15.8m for 2023.
Northern & Shell had previously posted a pre-tax loss of £101.5m in its prior year.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House have also revealed that the group’s turnover fell from £14.1m to £12.6m over the same period.
The results are the fifth full year since the group sold its publishing and printing assets, including the Daily Star and the Daily Express, to Reach plc in February 2018.
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A statement signed off by the board said: “The directors take great pride in the philanthropic work that has been enabled through the efforts and activities of The Health Lottery and the truly positive effects that it has already had on so many people’s lives in this country.”
Northern & Shell incurred almost £20m in costs associated with its bid to take over the UK National Lottery, but it was not selected as the preferred applicant.
In June 2024, the High Court ruled that a full trial would take place between October and November 2025 after the group decided to legally challenge the “fairness and integrity” of the bidding process.
Northern & Shell claims the Gambling Commission failed to “ensure equal treatment of the applicants”, adding that it provided “unfairly favourable treatment to Allwyn”.
The Gambling Commission has been challenged in the past over its decision to grant Allwyn the licence.
Camelot filed a claim shortly after the decision, and International Game Technology (IGT) joined the case as it provided operational software to Camelot. However, IGT later dropped its legal challenge.
In November 2022, Allwyn struck a deal to buy Camelot, which it completed early last year.
On its results, Northern & Shell added: “The directors feel that the group is well placed to build on its established activities and broader interests to take advantage of improved market conditions and new opportunities as they arise.”