Flutter Entertainment reports mixed year, as revenue tops £6 billion

International iGaming behemoth Flutter Entertainment has released its financial report for the final quarter of 2021, showing an annual revenue of £6.04 billion (€7.25 billion), up 37 per cent on the figure recorded in 2020.

This came as the group reported significantly increased customers, which increased by 23 per cent to hit 7.6 million average monthly players.

Flutter's overall revenues also benefitted from its May 2020 combination with The Stars Group (TSG).

However, the outlook was not all positive, and Flutter's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by six per cent year-on-year to hit £772 million (€927 million).

This decline was driven by an increased investment in the company's US business, and regulatory factors recorded across its international portfolio. This included damaging changes in Germany and the Netherlands.

Aside from these markets, Flutter saw good momentum across key markets such as Brazil, Canada and Georgia. In addition, it expects its acquisition of Sisal to further enhance both the quality and shape of its international division.

In Flutter's US market, its FanDuel sportsbook achieved promising results, maintaining its market leading position, accounting for 40 per cent of Q4 online sportsbook market share in the US.

This saw FanDuel achieve a promising milestone, as it delivered a positive contribution for the first time.

This company's revenues in this region more than doubled, climbing by 113 per cent to hit £1.4 billion (€1.7 billion), which Flutter reports is nearly 50 per cent more than its nearest competitor.

Despite this success in the US, Flutter Entertainment chief executive Peter Jackson commented that the company retains a challenger mindset, launching a number of new features to its market-leading same game parlay product, to help maintain its competitive advantage in sports.

Mr Jackson presented a broadly positive outlook for the company in his comments, saying: "Overall, I am pleased with the progress we have made during 2021 and believe Flutter is exceptionally well positioned for future growth."

Discussing Flutter's UK and Ireland market, Mr Jackson said: "We stepped up our safer gambling efforts and increased protections for our customers ahead of anticipated regulatory change. We also welcomed Tombola, the UK’s leading recreational bingo brand, to the group in early January."

Elsewhere, he added: "In Australia, Sportsbet delivered another strong performance demonstrating once again the benefits of securing a gold medal position in our key markets.In International, investments made since acquiring PokerStars have put it on a more sustainable footing and while this has resulted in reduced profitability, the necessary foundations for future growth are now in place.

"Notwithstanding regulatory changes in Germany, Netherlands and elsewhere, we saw good momentum across key markets such as Brazil, Canada and Georgia. In addition, the announcement of our acquisition of Sisal will further enhance both the quality and shape of our International division."

Providing a projection for the future, Flutter stated that, assuming a normal run of sports results, it expects revenue growth to accelerate as 2022 progresses, reflecting phasing of sports margin comparable and safer gambling measures taken in 2021.