Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment has projected adjusted earnings growth of 34% this year as its US subsidiary FanDuel continues to expand.

The group expects to make adjusted EBITDA of $1.4bn in the US states where it is currently operating, which would represent an annual increase of 176%, with revenue on course to grow 33% to $7.7bn.

Flutter anticipates an adjusted EBITDA loss of $90m from new states and territories after launching in Missouri at the end of 2024 and amid preparations for its launch in Alberta, Canada early next year.

Outside of North America, Flutter expects adjusted earnings and revenue to rise 10% to $1.8bn and revenues to increase 6% to $8.3bn.

Flutter reported a strong full-year performance for 2024, with its average number of monthly players rising 13% to 13.9m and revenue up 19% to $14bn.

After making a net income loss of $1.2bn in 2023, the group recorded a $162m profit last year while adjusted earnings increase by a quarter (+26%) to $2.4bn at an improved margin of 16.8%.

Flutter credited FanDuel's rapid growth in the US for its improved performance, which helped to further deleverage its balance sheet from a ratio of 3.1x to 2.2x.

In the US, online gross gaming revenue (GGR) market share was 36% and 43% for sportsbook GGR, with revenue up 14%. Amid the "most customer-friendly NFL results in 20 years," adjusted earnings declined 3% $163m.

"FanDuel remains America's number one sportsbook with its leading product maintaining a clear structural revenue margin advantage over competitors," said Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter.

"At the same time, excellent execution secured a new number one spot for FanDuel Casino in iGaming."

Outside the US, revenue increased 14% driven by "structural sportsbook revenue margin expansion, [favourable] sports results and excellent iGaming momentum".

Flutter's UK & Ireland division has increased its market share by four percentage points over the past two years, thanks to Paddy Power's 'SuperSub' product.

"This drove a five percentage point increase in Same Game Parlay penetration as a proportion of total soccer handle in Q4 compared to the prior year, and helped increase our structural gross revenue margin," said Flutter.

"This was complemented by Paddy Power's very successful sponsorship of the World Darts Championship during the busy Christmas sporting calendar, which included the Bigger 180 campaign which raised over $1.25m for Prostate Cancer UK.

"In iGaming, compelling promotions combined with our leading free-to-play content, such as the Sky Vegas Guaranteed Prize Machine, drove iGaming AMPs 13% higher to a record 2.4m in Q4."

For 2025, Flutter has forecast revenue of $15.5bn to $16.4bn, including $7.5bn to $8bn in its existing US states, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.9bn to $3.4bn.

The group will make capital expenditures of approximately $710bn and expects to repurchase up to $1bn in shares.

"We have had a great start to 2025, including record levels of customer engagement for the Super Bowl where FanDuel had 3m active customers placing 17.7m bets with $470m wagered on the day," Jackson added.

"I am excited to build on this strong momentum as we seize the growth opportunities outlined at our Investor Day last September."

Daniel Taylor, CEO International at Flutter, added: "Outside of the US, Flutter delivered impressive revenue growth of 14% in Q4, with a number of highlights throughout the International division:

"We continue to take share in the UK, +4% over the last 2 years with a very strong Q4 performance.

"We’ve seen transformational acquisitions with Serbia’s MaxBet acquired in January 2024 thriving as part of Flutter and two more exciting brands in Italy and Brazil set to complete soon pending approvals.

"Sisal ‘s compelling omnichannel offering in Italy drove strong online player growth of 33% enabling significantly increased market share.

"In India, Junglee Games delivered strong player growth throughout the quarter, with 2024 AMPs 72% higher on a year-over-two-year basis and revenues up over 90% vs 2023.

"Our Consolidate and Invest markets accounted for 84% of International revenue in Q4 and grew 18% excluding the benefit of MaxBet. This reflected very strong growth in key markets including Italy, India, Turkey, Georgia and Brazil."

(Pic: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)