Today, the Irish gambling operator Flutter Entertainment announced its interim results for the first half of the current fiscal year. The company unveiled a considerable increase in its group revenue over the first six months which ended on June 30th, 2019.
According to the report which has been published by the gambling company mere hours ago, the group revenue of Flutter Entertainment rose by 18% from £867 million in the same period a year ago to £1.02 billion in the first six months of the ongoing financial year. The company, which has recently carried out a successful rebranding from Paddy Power Betfair to Flutter, also unveiled an 8% growth in its online division revenue, as well as continued growth in its recreational customer base.
Both the Australian and the US units of the operator generated revenue growth. Flutter Entertainment’s Australian division registered 16% revenue growth and strong customer growth despite the additional taxes faced by the company. A mesmerising 148% increase in the US unit’s revenue was reported, mostly thanks to the company’s presence on the newly-liberalized sports betting market.
The Irish gambling company also registered a slight 4% decline in its retail operations revenue. Flutter Entertainment revealed that it experienced good growth in sports that, however, was offset by the decline registered in the company’s FOBT operations following the UK Government’s crackdown on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals.
As revealed by the firm, its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) suffered a 10% YoY decline from £217 million in the first six months of fiscal 2018 to £196 million in the first half of 2019. Flutter shared there was a £21-million reduction on the result posted a year earlier after the company was hit by incremental taxes and duties worth £47 million. Excluding these taxes and duties, the underlying EBITDA of the gambling group increased by 15%.
Flutter’s CEO Describes First Six Months as “Another Productive Period”
The company’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Jackson said in the results sheet release that the operator would stick to prioritising sustainable growth through promotion of responsible gambling. Mr Jackson highlighted the fact that the company is expected to face certain market challenges over the second half of the year and reminded of some international markets switch-offs and responsible gaming measures release in the group’s core markets.
Peter Jackson also shared that Flutter Entertainment had started to trial the second generation of its responsible gambling model aimed at promoting responsible gambling. According to him, it would improve the sustainability of the industry, even in case the short term sector earnings are impacted.
The gambling operator’s boss described the six months ended on June 30th, 2019 as another productive period for Flutter Entertainment. He further noted that all company’s units have continued their strong performance on an underlying basis that has helped the company respond well to the challenges on its way.
- Author
Olivia Cole
