Momentum builds at gambling giant, with rising number of recreational players

The world’s largest gambling business, Flutter Entertainment, which owns Leeds-based Sky Betting and Gaming, made reported revenues of £4.4bn in 2020, a year-on-year rise of 106%.

The business, which has today released preliminary results for year ended 31 December 2020, also reports adjusted group EBITDA of £889m, a 109% increase.

And it reported profit of £1m after deduction of £432m in non-cash acquisition accounting adjustments.

Flutter says it has achieved excellent momentum, with 19% growth in recreational players across the Group. It has seen an acceleration of channel shift from retail to online and an increased share of entertainment spend.

In its trading outlook, the business adds group revenue is up 36% year on year in the first seven weeks of the year (to Feb 21).

But it notes that Covid restrictions are impacting retail business in UK and Ireland, with an estimated monthly EBITDA loss of £9m for each month that both UK and Irish retail estates remain shut.

Peter Jackson, the listed company’s chief executive, said: “2020 was an historic year for the Group as we completed our merger with TSG, commenced the integration of our two businesses and increased our ownership of FanDuel in the US, whilst at the same time navigating the challenges presented by the pandemic.

“We delivered a very strong financial performance in 2020, benefiting from our scale and diversification.

“We continue to grow our recreational player base across all key regions, in quarter four alone the Group had over 7.6m monthly online players.

“During this exceptionally testing time, we have focused on safeguarding the welfare of colleagues and contributed more to the communities in which we operate.

“While the global outlook remains uncertain, our momentum remains strong and we look forward to the future with confidence.”