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(Alliance News) - Flutter Entertainment PLC said Wednesday its performance in the third quarter exceeded its expectations, allowing the bookmaker to increase its earnings guidance for 2020.
Shares in the FTSE 100-listed bookmaker were 2.4% higher in London on Wednesday morning at 13,095.00 pence each.
In the three months to September, Flutter's total revenue jumped 27% year on year to GBP1.33 billion from GBP1.04 billion. Sports revenue ballooned 32% to GBP798 million, and Gaming revenue grew 21% to GBP527 million.
Flutter noted it saw a 33% rise in online revenue growth, with average daily customers up 41%.
"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," Chief Executive Peter Jackson said.
Paddy Power & Betfair revenue is up 10% year on year, with online revenue growing 14%. Sky Bet Gaming revenue is up 26%. Pokerstars revenue rose 5%.
In Australia, revenue was up 76%, while Flutter saw its US revenue jump 82% year on year. In the US, the bookmaker said its sportsbook stakes more than triple in the third quarter to GBP1.25 billion.
"Average daily customers increased more than 5-fold during the quarter with both direct and cross-sell performing well following the return of sports," Flutter added, describing its meteoric rise in the US.
Jackon continued: "We are very pleased to have retained our position as the number 1 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 USD1.1 billion of gross gaming revenue in the US this year, which will mark a major 'first' for an online operator."
Looking ahead, Flutter is guiding for 2020 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - excluding the US - between GBP1.28 billion and GBP1.35 billion, which is up from previous guidance of GBP1.18 billion from GBP1.33 billion. Flutter noted this outlook is based on the UK not extending the second national lockdown beyond December 2.
In the US, Flutter expects to generate net revenue of over USD850 million in 2020, due to the better-than-expected new customer volumes. Increased investment in customer acquisition is expected to lead to an EBITDA loss there of GBP160 million to GBP180 million, the group formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair said.
"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," Jackson added.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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