Praise The Gambling Gods: Entain, Its US$170 Billion Baby And A Steady-As-She-Grows FY22

Under the canny stewardship of Chief Executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen, steady-as-she-grows Entain just gets better and better.

The FTSE-100 Omnichannel has just upped its dividend for its latest Financial Year, ending December 31, 2022, to £100 million (US$121.55m/€113.19m) thanks to “excellent” on-track results.

Entain’s post-Covid19 pandemic resurgence of retail, accompanied by a slight dip in online–common to most of the international multi-channel gambling industry–continued.

With high street betting shops–namely, Ladbrokes Coral–opened and fully functioning, retail revenue tripled, year-on-year, to £280 million (US$340.34m/€316.94m); while online slipped eight points to £828 million (US$1bn/€937.25m).

“We continue to look to the future with confidence,” affirmed Nygaard-Andersen.

“It’s a mark of the strong progress we’ve made in executing our sustainable growth strategy and we continue to see a vast array of opportunities around the world as we expand into the US$170 billion addressable market that we have identified (£139.85bn/€158.31bn).

Responsible Gaming, Proudly

“I am particularly proud that Entain leads our industry on responsible gaming and we are now the only global operator exclusively in domestically regulated or regulating markets.”

Entain’s total NGR for 2022–some £3.05 billion (US$3.7bn/€3.45bn) generated by online action–was £4.35 billion (US$5.28bn/€4.92bn) — up almost 12 percent, year-on-year.

Retail NGR, driven in large part by the UK and Italy, leapt nearly 62 percent to £1.28 billion (US$1.55bn/€1.44bn).

The group paid £70 million income tax (US$85.08m/€79.23m), posting a net profit of £32.8 million (US$39.86m/€37.12m), down 88 percent on 2021.

Meantime, BetMGM, Entain’s US joint-venture with MGM Resorts International, continues to go from strength-to-strength; with a 29 percent share in iGaming and 18 percent share in sports in the markets where it operates.

If the vertical continues its stellar performance it will be EBITDA-positive by H2 this year, with a projected 2023 net revenue of up to US$2 billion (£1.64bn/€1.86bn).

The recent launches of Entain’s “unikrn” esports brand in Brazil and Canada also promises ground-breaking future growth.

And, almost on key, to mark Entain’s most satisfactory financial year, the UK gambling giant has announced the auspicious milestone of delivering its 10,000th title–a slots game called Hold of the Gods–on its global iGaming platform.

Indeed, the very gambling Gods seem to be smiling on Jette Nygaard-Andersen and her intrepid band of iGamers.