SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Entain Plc has notified stakeholders of major share purchases initiated by leadership and board members as a sign of confidence in the long-term prospects of the FTSE100 gambling group.
A notification of share transactions on 8 November detailed that Chairman Barry Gibson had purchased 93,600 Entain shares. The transaction, valued at approximately £870,000, sees Gibson increase his personal shareholding in Entain to 123,500 shares from his previous 29,500.
Executing a trade for 35,000 shares (valued: £324,000), Group CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen has doubled her shareholding in Entain to 65,400 shares.
The biggest individual transaction was undertaken by Senior Independent Director Stella David, who purchased 95,000 shares at a price of approximately £900,000.
A corporate director since 2021, David has increased her personal shareholding in Entain to 112,000 shares.
The notification disclosed that further share transactions had been undertaken by Non-Executive Director Rahul Welde for 21,000 shares (priced at 924p each) and Barry Gibson’s wife Brenda who acquired 15,000 shares (priced at 937p each).
At present, Corporate Directors hold an aggregate of 665,682 shares (including those of their closely associated persons) equivalent to 0.104% of all issued share capital.
Q3 trading saw Entain declare pro-forma GGR declines across its online and retail units, attributed to ‘aggravating factors’ within Western European markets (primarily the UK and Germany).
Yet, confident in its BetMGM North American growth prospects, Entain maintains its revised full-year EBITDA guidance of £1bn-£1.05bn
As announced last week, the board and leadership of Entain has initiated a streamlining of the FTSE firm’s business portfolio to improve the quality of earnings and value for shareholders.
Providing a new long-term outlook, Entain plans to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 7% from 2025, aligning with market expectations.
Long-term objectives see Entain initiate ‘Project Romer’, to optimise group assets to achieve an online EBITDA margin of 28% by 2026 and 30% by 2028.
