Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksFlutter Entertainment Regulatory News (FLTR)

Share Price Information for Flutter Entertainment (FLTR)

Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
8,420.00    260.00 (3.19%)
Bid:
8,436.00
Ask:
8,456.00
Spread: 20.00 (0.237%)
Market Cap: £14.61b
FLTR Live PriceLast checked at - London Stock Exchange

Intraday Flutter Entertainment Share Chart

Flutter COVID-19 update

16 Mar 2020 07:00

RNS Number : 1906G
Flutter Entertainment PLC
16 March 2020
 

 

16th March 2020

COVID-19 update; sporting fixture cancellations

 

Flutter Entertainment plc (the "Group") provides the following update regarding the cancellation and/or postponement of multiple sports fixtures globally.

In recent days, many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to delay the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This will obviously have a material impact on the revenue and earnings of the Group which, in 2019, generated approximately 78% of its revenues through bets placed on global sporting events.

Quantifying the precise earnings impact on the Group is difficult at this point as we do not have visibility on the duration of restrictions on sporting events. While most major global sports have been suspended/cancelled, there are some exceptions where events are now being scheduled to take place behind closed doors. These include some Australian sports as well as Irish and Australian horse racing - we have provided full details of the sports affected in the Appendix.

In order to assist in the quantification of the impact on the Group at this point, we estimate that in a scenario where restrictions remain in place until the end of August (including full suspension of Australian sports and the cancellation of Euro 2020), EBITDA for the Group would be reduced by approximately £90-110m. This estimate assumes that our UK and Irish shops remain open and that scheduled UK, Irish and Australian horse racing fixtures continue to run, albeit behind closed doors. Should horse racing be cancelled in the three regions and our UK/Irish shops be closed, we estimate that this would incrementally reduce Group EBITDA by approximately £30m per month.

In terms of the operational management of our business, we successfully deployed our business continuity plan last week during what was a very busy week for the Group, with all systems performing well. Prior to the announcement of cancellations, trading in the quarter had been running ahead of our expectations, assisted by good customer momentum and favourable sporting results.

The Group retains a strong balance sheet with a leverage ratio (net debt/EBITDA) of 0.7 times as at December 31st 2019, well below our covenant level of 3.5x. We will continue to explore ways to mitigate the impact of cancellations through multiple measures.

Peter Jackson, Chief Executive, commented:

"The challenge currently facing our business and the industry more widely is unprecedented in modern times. Our focus, first and foremost, is on protecting the welfare of our employees and our customers and we will leave nothing to chance in this regard. While our near-term profitability will be impacted by the essential measures being taken globally, the Board will remain focused on protecting shareholder value and managing the business through these turbulent times."

ENDS

Contacts:

Ciara O'Mullane, Investor Relations

+ 353 87 987 7862

Liam Kealy, Investor Relations

+ 353 87 665 2014

David Jennings, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations

+ 353 87 951 3560

Fi Thorne, Corporate Affairs

+ 44 208 834 6018

 

 

 

Appendix: Sports restrictions announced at date of publication

Material restrictions announced to date are as follows:

Football: All English Premier league and football league games have been suspended until April 3rd with indefinite suspensions of the major leagues in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and multiple other European leagues. Champions League and Europa League fixtures have also been postponed with a high probability that Euro 2020 could be deferred.

Global horse-racing: As of March 15th, horse racing fixtures are continuing to proceed. In Ireland, Australia and Scotland, these are now being run behind closed doors while there are currently no restrictions in place in England or the US.

US Sports: All National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer leagues have been suspended, while the college basketball season ("March Madness") has been cancelled. The US Masters has been postponed with US PGA and LPGA tour events also cancelled.

Australian sports: To date, outright cancellations/suspensions have been limited in Australia. AFL, NRL and one day internationals are still scheduled to proceed but with matches being played behind closed doors.

Other global sports: In tennis, the ATP tour is suspended for 6 weeks. The IPL cricket tournament scheduled for March has been deferred until April. The Australian, Bahrain and Vietnam Formula 1 Grand Prix have all been postponed.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2016.

 

About Flutter Entertainment plc

Flutter Entertainment plc (the "Group") is a global sports betting and gaming operator and is divided into four divisions:

 

• Online; which runs the Paddy Power, Betfair and Adjarabet online sports betting and gaming brands;

• Australia; which consists of the Sportsbet online sports betting brand, the #1 corporate bookmaker in Australia;

• US; which operates as FanDuel Group and runs the FanDuel sportsbook and daily-fantasy-sports brands, the TVG broadcasting and advanced deposit wagering network and the Betfair online casino in New Jersey and;

Retail; which operates over 620 Paddy Power retail betting shops across the UK and Ireland.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
 
END
 
 
MSCSFSEEIESSEDD
Date   Source Headline
9th Dec 20205:51 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
8th Dec 20206:00 pmRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
8th Dec 202010:59 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
4th Dec 20205:30 pmRNSFlutter Entertainment
4th Dec 20207:00 amRNSResult of Placing
3rd Dec 202012:30 pmRNSProposed Placing of New Ordinary Shares
3rd Dec 202012:30 pmRNSAccelerated Acquisition of 37.2% of FanDuel
2nd Dec 202011:08 amRNSHolding(s) in Company - Replacement
2nd Dec 20209:35 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
1st Dec 20201:32 pmRNSTotal Voting Rights
30th Nov 20204:41 pmRNSSecond Price Monitoring Extn
30th Nov 20204:36 pmRNSPrice Monitoring Extension
30th Nov 20202:45 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
18th Nov 202011:56 amRNS2020 AGM Update Statement
11th Nov 20207:00 amRNSQ3 2020 Trading Update
5th Nov 20206:00 pmRNSBlock Listing Application
2nd Nov 202010:04 amRNSTotal Voting Rights
30th Oct 202011:59 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
27th Oct 20205:00 pmRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
15th Oct 20202:00 pmRNSNotice of Q3 2020 Trading Update
13th Oct 202010:00 amRNSBlock listing Interim Review
1st Oct 20209:35 amRNSTotal Voting Rights
22nd Sep 202010:29 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
1st Sep 202010:30 amRNSTotal Voting Rights
27th Aug 20207:01 amRNSDirectorate Change
27th Aug 20207:00 amRNSHalf-year Report
4th Aug 20205:00 pmRNSNotice of 2020 Interim Results
3rd Aug 202010:11 amRNSTotal Voting Rights
31st Jul 20206:00 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
8th Jul 20204:30 pmRNSReminder to Stars holders to claim Flutter Shares
7th Jul 202012:47 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
2nd Jul 20204:00 pmRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
2nd Jul 202011:42 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
1st Jul 202010:01 amRNSTotal Voting Rights
29th Jun 20204:36 pmRNSPrice Monitoring Extension
29th Jun 20204:32 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
29th Jun 20201:16 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
29th Jun 20201:13 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
24th Jun 20201:20 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
19th Jun 20204:41 pmRNSSecond Price Monitoring Extn
19th Jun 20204:35 pmRNSPrice Monitoring Extension
15th Jun 20202:35 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
12th Jun 20204:05 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
10th Jun 202011:00 amRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
10th Jun 202011:00 amRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
10th Jun 202011:00 amRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
10th Jun 202011:00 amRNSDirector/PDMR Shareholding
9th Jun 202010:46 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
8th Jun 20202:06 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
8th Jun 20209:43 amRNSHolding(s) in Company

Due to London Stock Exchange licensing terms, we stipulate that you must be a private investor. We apologise for the inconvenience.

To access our Live RNS you must confirm you are a private investor by using the button below.