Australian betting operator Tabcorp Holdings saw its net profits fall nearly 60% in the final earnings report before its official merger with rival Tatts Group.

On Wednesday, Tabcorp reported revenue of A$1.37b (US$1.07b) in the six months ending December 31, 2017, a year-on-year improvement of 18.7% over its previous fiscal H1. But net profit after tax (NPAT) before significant items fell 20% to A$82m and statutory NPAT was down 58.2% to just A$24.6m.

The significant items contributing to that profit plunge included A$57.4m in Tatts acquisition costs, A$49m from an “onerous contract provision” in the failing UK-facing Sun Bets joint venture plus another $3.2m in Sun Bets impairment charges, A$12.4m stemming from the closure of the underperforming Luxbet online betting arm and A$6.3m from the divestment of the Odyssey video poker machine monitoring business.

The above inglorious parade of red ink would have pushed Tabcorp into a net loss for the period were it not for a A$72.8m net gain on a cash-settled equity swap.