Ladbrokes owner Entain boosted by Euro 2024

Entain shares rose sharply on Thursday after the group upped its annual revenue forecasts and narrowed first half losses thanks to a Euro 2024 boost. 

The group’s bottom line was bolstered by punters cashing in on high-profile football events in Europe in the second quarter.

Group losses after tax totalled £46.9million in the first half, a marked improvement from the £448million loss penned in the 2023 interims. 

Its EBITDA was £524million, marking a 5 per cent increase year-on-year. 

The owner of Ladbrokes and Coral said it now expected a low single-digit positive growth in online net gaming revenue (NGR), up from a previous forecast of low single-digit negative growth for the full year.

Entain expects its annual group EBITDA to come in at between £1.04billion and £1.09billion. 

The total group NGR, inclusive of the company’s share of US betting firm BetMGM, rose by 6 per cent to £2.56billion. Despite a 6 per cent drop in NGR in the UK and Ireland region, favourable results from Euros 2024 gave the firm a boost. 

Shares in Entain were up 7.57 per cent or 39.60p to 563.00p on Thursday, having fallen over 58 per cent in the last year. Shares rose over 11 per cent earlier today. 

Interim chief executive, Stella David, said: ‘Whilst there is more work to do, we are pleased with the progress so far and look forward to building further on these solid foundations in H2 and beyond.’

Entain enjoyed a boom during the pandemic, as punters working from home with more time on their hands placed bets. 

However, increased competition and regulatory changes in key markets have posed a challenge to the firm, which last month named Gavin Isaacs as its new chief executive after the abrupt departure of Jette Nygaard-Andersen.

Entain has been focusing on the booming US market, where its joint venture with MGM resorts, BetMGM, faces formidable competition from rivals Flutter-owned FanDuel and Boston-based DraftKings.

Entain’s upbeat tone contrasts with BetMGM, which last month warned that its losses for the year would be bigger than previously expected.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has been in a bit of a mess for some time, so investors will take succour from the company’s latest results.

‘Yes, the company is still losing money at the pre-tax level, but the scale of these losses has been significantly reduced and the company has notably upgraded its outlook.’

He added: ‘This provides some decent foundations for incoming CEO Gavin Isaacs’ efforts to revive Entain’s fortunes when he takes charge at the beginning of next month. He won’t be able to duplicate the benefit the company enjoyed from Euro 2024 and there is still plenty on his to do list.

‘This includes navigating a tricky regulatory backdrop which impacted the company’s performance in the UK in the first half of the year.

‘It also involves injecting some new life into its US joint venture BetMGM. The American market is seen as a major source of opportunity but, despite putting in material investment across the pond, the venture is struggling to make any progress on market share.’