Flutter Entertainment, the Dublin-headquartered owner of Paddy Power, has upgraded its forecast for full-year profit growth following a turnaround in US betting fortunes during the second quarter.

After a six-month winning streak for US gamblers dented profits earlier this year, results swung sharply in favour of bookmakers between April and June.

The shift helped offset some of the damage from the first quarter, when a run of customer-friendly sports results forced Flutter to cut its US core profit guidance by $180m in May.

Less favourable outcomes for punters in Q2 allowed the group to recover $100m of that and lift its overall profit forecast to $3.3bn, up from $3.18bn in May.

That would represent 40% growth on last year.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached $919m, a 25% year-on-year rise and well ahead of analyst expectations of $816m, according to LSEG SmartEstimate.

In the US, FanDuel – Flutter’s flagship brand – increased its market-leading share to 41% in sports betting and 27% in iGaming.

Core profit there surged 54% to $400m.

Closer to home, Flutter’s international division, which includes Paddy Power, Betfair and Italian operator Sisal, saw profits climb 13% to $591m.

Over two-thirds of that growth came from recent acquisitions in Italy and Brazil.

Revenue in the UK and Ireland for the quarter rose slightly to $936m from $928m a year earlier.

The group is also watching developments in the emerging US “event contracts” market, which lets traders wager on outcomes in sports, entertainment, politics and economics.

This segment has grown rapidly since the last US presidential election.