Flutter Entertainment, the group behind the Paddy Power and Sky Bet brands, exceeded expectations in the third quarter of 2020 thanks to a strong performance in both sports betting and gaming.
Overall revenues rose by 30 per cent in Q3 2020 to £1.325bn (Q3 2019: £1.042bn), as the number of average daily customers grew by 41 per cent globally, with double-digit growth across all key regions.
Increased investment in customer acquisition in the US is expected to translate to an EBITDA loss of between £160m and £180m for the full year. Excluding the US, EBITDA is now expected to be £1.275bn to £1.35bn, driven by higher customer volumes across all divisions (previous guidance: £1.175bn to £1.325bn).
Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said: "Flutter's performance in the third quarter exceeded our expectations in both sports and gaming. Our strong trading continued as we grew market share in key regions while retaining our commitment to safer gambling practices. During the quarter we continued to expand our recreational customer base while bringing our businesses together. This included the successful migration of the BetEasy customer base onto the Sportsbet platform in Australia.
“We are very pleased to have retained our position as the number one online operator in the US, where FanDuel has made significant progress against each of its key priorities. We have enhanced the customer experience, secured further strategic media partnerships and acquired more new customers than anticipated. We are on track to generate more than $1.1bn of GGR in the US this year, which will mark a major 'first' for an online operator.
“We are now a truly global business with significant scale. As such we are in a unique position to respond to the many opportunities we see across our growing markets. Looking ahead, whilst the outlook with respect to Covid-19 remains uncertain, we are confident that our business is well positioned to capture further growth in a sustainable and responsible way."
