Entain plc (LON:ENT), the global sports betting and gaming group, today reports trading for the period from 1 January to 31 March 2024.
Key Highlights:
· We continue to make good progress improving the operational performance of the business to drive organic revenue growth
· Group Q1 performance in line with our expectations
o Total Group Net Gaming Revenue (“NGR”), including 50% share of BetMGM1, up +6%cc2, -3%cc2 on a proforma3 basis
o Group proforma Online NGR (excl US) -2%cc2, supported by 11% proforma3 growth in active customers
· UK & Ireland NGR was down -7%cc2, (Online -9%cc2, Retail -6%cc2) as we continue to experience the effects of our regulatory implementation
o Our actions that are driving operational improvements together with the levelling of the UK regulatory landscape will position our brands well for growth into 2025
· International4 NGR was up +8%cc2, -2%cc2 on a proforma3 basis (Online -1%cc2, Retail -8%cc2)
o Positive performance across many of our markets, partly offset by expected softness in Australia, Netherlands and Germany
o Encouraging return to good year on year growth in Brazil, driven by ongoing operational improvements initiated in 2023
o In spite of strong volume growth, NGR in Italy was impacted by customer-friendly sports margins
· Entain CEE5 continued to perform well with NGR up +11%cc2 (Online +11%cc2, Retail +9%cc2) on a proforma3 basis with SuperSport in Croatia performing particularly strongly
· BetMGM delivered Q1 NGR1 up +2% year on year with a 14%6 market share in sports betting and iGaming in the markets where it operates
o Continuing iGaming strength offset by customer-friendly win margins across online and retail sportsbooks; adjusting for impact of sports margin estimated Q1 NGR1 would have been high single digit positive
o Strong growth in customer acquisition, supported by successful Super Bowl and March Madness engagement and improving app and product capabilities
o With an enhanced player experience and exciting pipeline ahead, including more Angstrom powered offerings, BetMGM is well positioned to invest for future growth
Stella David, Interim CEO of Entain, commented:
“Our Q1 performance was in line with our expectations, with growth reflecting both strong performances in many of our markets as well as known challenges in others. We are particularly encouraged by the level of customer engagement in the US following a successful Super Bowl and March Madness, as well as our return to growth in Brazil following the changes we implemented.
Overall, we are pleased with the progress being made against our plan to accelerate Entain’s operational performance. There is still more to do, but the team is fully engaged in delivering operational improvements, product enhancements, as well as greater organisational agility and efficiency. We look forward to building on this momentum as we focus on our strategic priorities of organic revenue growth, margin expansion and winning in the U.S. We remain confident that our continued focused execution will drive organic growth into 2025 and beyond.”
Q1 2024 Trading performance:
| Q1 2024: 1 January to 31 March 2024 | |||||||||||
| TotalNGR | GamingNGR | SportsNGR | SportsWagers | SportsMargin | |||||||
| Reported7 | CC2 | Proforma CC2,3 | Proforma CC2,3 | ||||||||
| UK & Ireland | (7%) | (7%) | (7%) | (7%) | (8%) | (12%) | +0.5pp | ||||
| Online UK&I | (9%) | (9%) | (9%) | (8%) | (13%) | (21%) | +0.6pp | ||||
| Retail UK&I | (6%) | (6%) | (6%) | (6%) | (5%) | (3%) | (0.2pp) | ||||
| International | 4% | 8% | (2%) | 1% | (5%) | (3%) | (0.5pp) | ||||
| Online Int’l | 4% | 8% | (1%) | 1% | (4%) | (4%) | (0.3pp) | ||||
| Retail Int’l | 4% | 7% | (8%) | 23% | (10%) | 2% | (2.2pp) | ||||
| CEE | 124% | 130% | 11% | 30% | 6% | 7% | +0.2pp | ||||
| Online CEE | 128% | 133% | 11% | 31% | 5% | 8% | +0.2pp | ||||
| Retail CEE | 111% | 116% | 9% | 22% | 8% | 5% | +0.4pp | ||||
| Group (ex US) | 4% | 6% | (3%) | (2%) | (5%) | (5%) | (0.1pp) | ||||
| Online | 6% | 9% | (2%) | (1%) | (4%) | (6%) | +0.1pp | ||||
| Retail | (1%) | 0% | (5%) | (5%) | (6%) | (1%) | (0.8pp) | ||||
| BetMGM | (2%) | 2% | 2% | ||||||||
| Total Group inc50% of BetMGM | 3% | 6% | (3%) | ||||||||
2023 quarterly performance presented in alignment with the new segmental reporting structure, is available on our website: https://entaingroup.com/investor-relations/results-centre/
Notes
(1) BetMGM revenues comprise of sports (Online and Retail) and iGaming revenues
(2) Growth on a constant currency basis is calculated by translating both current and prior year performance at the 2024 exchange rates
(3) Proforma references include all 2023 acquisitions as if they had been part of the Group since 1 January 2023
(4) International segment comprises of all other countries outside the UK & Ireland, Entain CEE and US reporting segments, including Australia, Italy, Brazil, Netherlands, New Zealand, Georgia and Germany
(5) Entain Central and Eastern Europe segment (Entain CEE) comprises of Croatia and Poland
(6) Combined market share for North America by GGR for last three months ending January 2024 (includes US markets where BetMGM was active and an estimation for Ontario); internal estimates used where operator-specific results are unavailable
(7) 2024 results are unaudited, with the tables presented relating to continuing operations and including both statutory and non-statutory measures
Q1 Conference Call & Audio Webcast
An analyst call will be held today, Wednesday 17 April 2024 at 9:00am BST. Participants may join via webcast or by conference call dial in, approximately 10 minutes before the start of the call.
Live audio webcast link: Entain Group 2024 Q1 Trading Update
To participate in the Q&A, please use conference call dial in:
UK +44 20 3936 2999
US +1 646 787 9445
Access Code: 506198
A replay and transcript will be available on our website: https://entaingroup.com/investor-relations/results-centre/
