- Q1 revenue surges 46%
- Market share gains/ US on track to reach profitability in 2023
- Investors vote overwhelmingly for additional US listing
Sports betting and gaming company Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) said first quarter revenue jumped 46% to £2.4 billion driven by strong US growth and an ‘exceptional’ performance from Sisal, the Italian business purchased for €1.9 billion in August 2022.
The company also confirmed ‘overwhelming’ shareholder support for an additional US listing.
The shares have been one of the best performers in the UK market, up over 38% year to date and 80% over the last 12 months, so Wednesday’s muted reaction with the shares up 0.25% to £158.30 is perhaps unsurprising.
WHAT DID THE COMPANY SAY?
CEO Peter Jackson commented: ‘In the US, the combination of the FanDuel Advantage and the Flutter Edge drove further market share gains.
‘We added over 1.5 million customers in the quarter and we remain the clear market leader. Our US sports betting handle of $10.9 billion represented almost 60% of the group’s total sports book stakes.
‘Outside of the US, pro forma revenue growth of 8% demonstrated the benefits of diversification of our portfolio. We continued to take share across our UK & Ireland and International businesses while in Australia we did an excellent job defending our leadership position.’
INTERNATIONAL INFLECTION POINT
US revenue was up 92% year on year to $908 million with average monthly players increasing 46% to 3.4 million and the company appears to be on track to reach profitability in 2023.
International grew 69% reflecting the Sisal acquisition while on a proforma basis (adjusting for part contribution) revenue was up 6% driven by 14% growth in average monthly players to 3.9 million.
The company said the international division is at a ‘growth inflection point’ which allows it to successfully scale leading positions in high growth markets such as India and Turkey which exhibited revenue growth of 65% and 107% respectively.
WHAT ARE THE EXPERTS SAYING?
Leisure analyst at Shore Capital Gregg Johnson said he was minded to leave his full year forecasts unchanged but conceded: We see trading nicely ahead of our full year assumptions (mid-single digit growth ex-US).’
‘Overall, we see this is a positive update from Flutter, with the US on track to reach profitability this year and robust underlying growth.’
Gambling consultancy firm Regulus Partners said: ‘Flutter’s ability to use a strong central platform and local businesses with sufficient scale and flexibility to differentiate is not just paying off, it is changing the nature of the competitive landscape in regulated markets, in our view.’
LEARN MORE ABOUT FLUTTER ENTERTAINMENT
