Flutter Entertainment doubles revenue, sending shares rising 8.8 per cent
Revenue at sports gaming group Flutter Entertainment has rocketed 99 per cent in the past six months, scoring double the cash it recorded in the first half of 2020.
The upbeat results sent shares jumping 8.85 per cent to a total share price of 14,085.00.
The sports entertainment group, which owns Paddy Power and Betfair, pulled in a little over £3bn in the six months to 30 June, up from £1.53bn in the first half of 2020.
The group’s profit before tax has also swelled 221 per cent in the period, up from £24m to £77m.
However, Flutter’s earnings per share has taken a tumble in recent months. The group recorded a loss of 50.4p per share in a statement this morning, down from 18.1p per share at the beginning of last year.
Despite the loss in share earnings, group boss Peter Jackson said the financials “exceeded” expectations.
“In the US, we remain the number one online sports betting operator by some distance thanks to the quality of our products and the extensive reach of the FanDuel brand. The customer economics we are seeing in the US bode very well for the future.
“In the UK and Ireland, integration is progressing well with our three brands benefiting from shared learnings across product and operations.”
The entertainment group, which has a strong presence in the UK, has been expanding into the US.
Providing the upcoming sporting calendar is “uninterrupted” and its retail estates remain open, the group has forecast earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation (EBITA) to be between £1.27bn and £1.37bn for the second half of the year.
‘A saturation point on the horizon’
The group’s financials have been buoyed by the boom in gaming, spurred on by global lockdowns – as well as the post-pandemic return of sports matches.
But analyst at trading and investment app Freetrade, Gemma Boothroyd, has suspected the group may be hitting its peak.
“The pandemic lent a helping hand to online betting, speeding up its transition to digital. Last year was an inflexion point for many of the industry’s leaders, with the share price of behemoths DraftKings and Flutter shooting up.
“But Flutter’s half-year earnings could be warning of a saturation point on the horizon.”
The return to ‘normality’ may take Flutter by surprise, Boothroyd added, as the entertainment group may have acclimatised to its pandemic-era success too comfortably.
“As vaccination ramps up and Flutter’s main markets return to business-as-usual, it may be ill-prepared for lockdowns easing.
“That’s especially the case in America, where although sports betting is legal in over two dozen states, it’s often offline. And until the lay of the land changes, there’s little Flutter can do about that.”