10th Aug 2021 09:07
(Alliance News) - Flutter Entertainment PLC on Tuesday posted a rise in interim earnings as it benefited from the return to more normalised sporting calendars and a rise in online betting amid lockdown restrictions.
The gambling company, which owns Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair, posted a half-year pretax profit of GBP77 million, up sharply from GBP24 million a year previously. The improvement was partly attributed to higher revenue and a return to regular sporting events for its global businesses.
For the six months to June 30, revenue was up 99% at GBP3.05 billion from GBP1.54 billion in the prior year. Growth was driven by a 40% increase in average monthly players, the bookmaker reported.
Customer volumes were also higher, with average monthly players up 40% over the six months compared to last year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - excluding the US business - doubled to GBP684 million from GBP339 million.
The Dublin-based company has invested heavily in the US in the last year, with its FanDuel brand in the country growing interim revenue by 159% year-on-year to GBP652 million from GBP278 million and acquiring over 2.2 million new customers since its sports betting launch.
In the US, FanDuel with a market share of 45% in sports betting and benefitted from launches in states such as Michigan and Virginia during the period.
Shares in Flutter surged 4.7% higher to trade at 13,545.00 pence each in London, the best performer in the FTSE 100 on Tuesday.
Flutter did not declare an interim dividend but said its payout policy was to be kept under review.
Chief Executive Peter Jackson commented: "The first half of 2021 exceeded our expectations as we made substantial progress against our operational and strategic objectives while maintaining excellent momentum in growing our player base.
"Our global sports businesses benefited from further enhancements to our products and the return to more normalised sporting calendars while we sustained our strong performance in gaming despite the challenging comparatives set last year."
Jackson noted that Flutter remained the top online sports betting firm by "some distance" in the US, with customer economics in the country boding well for the future.
Looking ahead, Flutter said the second half of the year had started well and expects adjusted Ebitda for the six month period between GBP1.27 billion and GBP1.37 billion assuming an uninterrupted sporting calendar.
Gaming was singled out as an area where Flutter aimed to grow its market share and launch new products in the coming months.
By Will Paige; [email protected]
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