Entain believes it has fastest route to Brazil top spot

This morning, Entain Plc raised its full year EBITDA guidance above the £1bn mark, as leadership remains confident of achieving its turnaround objectives, entering what will be a further transformative H2 trading period.  

Of importance was Entain’s return to ‘double digit growth’ in Brazil (+28% NGR), which Group Interim CEO Stella David described to be a “must-win” market for the FTSE gambling group, in the coming months.  

Brazil is expected to launch its long-awaited regulated ‘Bets’ ’market on 1 January 2025, with the majority of the key legislative foundations already having been laid out. 

With the newly-established Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) taking the duties of a regulator, operators now must ensure the implementation of a list of compliance rules, part of which include protection of customer data, AML measures and having safer gambling tools on offer to limit harm. 

Asserting confidence to shareholders, leadership believes that Entain’s  triple-play of South American brands of SportingBet, bwin and Betboo can achieve fastest scale amongst Bets markets first entrants come 2025.   

Rob Wood, Entain CFO and Deputy CEO, added: “We have started the year well and have upgraded our 2024 guidance. Our recent acquisitions continue to perform, and so is our organic business, led firstly by Brazil and the UK soon to follow.”

The Entain UK&I segment is currently facing headwinds, with EBITDA down for the company compared to 2023. Wood attributed that to the changes in online regulatory measures from last year.

Nevertheless, the CFO remained confident in assuring that the region will return to growth “by the end of the year” thanks to ‘improving product and player journeys, which are boosting run rates’ – evidenced in the rise of actives by 13%. 

David added that the focus of strategic priorities for Entain remain on organic growth and margin % expansion, achieved through operational efficiencies benefitting cost controls for brands in saturated markets (primarily the UK and Netherlands).  

”Entain’s H1 results are clear evidence that our hard work improving the Group’s operational performance is bearing fruit,” David commented. 

“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.

“Our focused execution underpins the Group’s performance so far this year, and we are excited by the opportunities ahead.

“I look forward to welcoming Gavin Isaacs as our new Chief Executive Officer and supporting him as we continue to build on the Group’s improving operational momentum.”

Interim CEO Stella David will hand this momentum over to Gavin Isaacs, who will step in as the new Entain CEO from 2 September 2024. 

“The Entain train has left the station. It’s on the right track, in the right direction, increasing the momentum behind the business day by day,” David added. 

“And Gavin jumping on board is great. The board has great deal of confidence in him that he will continue to build up the momentum, and I’m excited to hand it over as I transition to a board member.”

The full breakdown of today’s financial report from Entain can be found here.