Revenue at Flutter Entertainment grew by 37% to over £6bn in 2021 but EBITDA declined 6% to £720m.
n a preliminary results statement, the company said recreational users grew 23% year-on-year to 7.6m monthly players with the UK & Ireland maintaining a leadership position with 29% share of the market, despite a challenging 4th quarter.
Revenue for the group, which consists of Paddy Power, Betfair and Fanduel, was £6,040m.
The group have said trading in the first seven weeks of 2022 has been in line with expectations. up 2% year-on-year, reflecting strong comparatives which benefited from favourable sports results.
In Association with
Chief Executive Peter Jackson said: "2021 was another strong year for the group as we made good progress against our strategic objectives. Yesterday we launched our new sustainability strategy, our ‘Positive Impact Plan’, which will see Flutter set a positive agenda for future change.
"Through this strategy, we will build on the significant progress already made in areas such as safer gambling and measure our performance against defined goals to demonstrate how we are responsible leaders in our industry.
"In the US, we delivered over $1.9bn in revenue, leveraging our differentiated product proposition to remain the number one sportsbook in the market with a 40% share.
"In the UK and Ireland, 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.
"In Australia, Sportsbet delivered another strong performance. 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," Jackson added.
Flutter’s total liabilities expanded from £6bn to £6.5bn through 2021. Year-end net worth of £10.3bn is calculated after factoring in £14.2bn in intangibles and goodwill.
The Flutter share has been on a slide since March 2021, dropping from the €200 level to the €120 level now. Investors’ initial reaction to the 2021 outcome was to mark the share down.
