Entain Revenue up 7% in Q4
Entain’s Q4 results reveal that the gambling behemoth has managed to stay on target financially despite the disruption caused by covid-19.
The recently rebranded operator saw net gaming revenue rise by 7% between 1 October and 31 December 2020. This brought full-year revenue for 2020 in-line with the previous year, or marginally up, by 1%, on a constant currency basis.
Entain credited the diversity of its product portfolio and geographic spread for its strong performance. While retail revenues fell as a result of the pandemic, there were major gains online.
Online sports betting revenue rose 59% in the fourth quarter, while net gaming revenue from the vertical for the full year was up 24%.
Online betting and gaming saw net gaming revenue rise 28% in the fourth quarter, and reported a 29% rise in net gaming revenue across 2020.
Together that equated to a 41% growth in revenue from online in the fourth quarter of the year and 27% across the full year.
Retail revenue fell 38% in the UK and 57% in Europe in the fourth quarter of the year. Across the whole off 2020, Entain’s retail revenues were down 36% in the UK and 38% in Europe.
Meanwhile Entain’s US online venture BetMGM, through its partnership with MGM Resorts, grew by 130% in 2020, equating to an 18% market share.
The BetMGM app is live in West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Tennessee and Pennsylvania and is due to launch in Michigan today (22 January).
Entain rejected an £8bn takeover bid by MGM Resorts earlier this month but clearly the partnership is working in its current form, with BetMGM expected to deliver net gaming revenue of between $175m and $180m across 2020, ahead of the business’ Q3 guidance of between $150m and $160m.
Entain’s outgoing CEO Shay Segev said: “In an exceptionally challenging year, our strong performance has been driven by a business model that is highly diversified across a wide range of products, brands, territories and channels. Q4 has been another successful period for us, and we are particularly pleased with the momentum that we are seeing in the US.
“BetMGM continues to go from strength to strength and is now live in 11 states, plus Michigan will be launching online tomorrow. As ever, we remain deeply aware of our responsibility to provide our customers with the safest possible experience while using our products, and to that end our new technology-based Advanced Responsibility and Care programme is heralding a new era in player protection. While the short-term outlook remains uncertain as a result of the ongoing impacts of covid-19, we have entered 2021 with good momentum and remain as confident as ever in Entain’s longer term prospects.”
Last week Segev confirmed his departure from the business after just six monthsmonths at the helm, to join sports streaming platform DAZN.
Alongside the results, Entain announced that non-executive board member Jette Nygaard-Andersen would become CEO with immediate effect. Nygaard-Andersen has a background in leadership and operational roles in media, entertainment, sport and digital businesses.
Entain, formally GVC Holdings, was built on a succession of bold acquisitions, gifting it an array of big-name brands including Bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker, and Sportingbet.
The operator kicked off the latest phase of its M&A programme at the end of last year, with the acquisition of Portuguese online gambling operator Bet.pt on 8 October 2020. The deal is expected to complete during the first quarter.
On 7 January 2021 Entain announced an offer for Latvia-based Enlabs AB, which operates online sports-betting and gaming brands across the Baltic region.
It follows Enlabs acquisition of Global Gaming in November 2020, which enables it to extend its operations into the Nordics.
Entain also launched its bwin brand in Columbia in December 2020, marking its ambition for a presence in the region as it opens up.
