Flutter ups guidance for US revenues

Flutter Entertainment boosted its forecasts for annual US revenues on Wednesday after a strong third quarter.

The sports betting and gaming firm - which owns Paddy Power and Betfair, among other brands - said average monthly players jumped 23% year-on-year in the three months to 30 September, to 9.6m.

Total revenues increased 22% on a constant currency basis, to £1.9bn, boosted by an 82% surge in US revenues, to £598m. Once the impact of the US business - Flutter’s largest division - was stripped out, revenues rose 6% to £1.29bn.

As a result, the group increased its full-year forecast for US revenues to between $2.95bn and $3.2bn, from previous guidance for $2.85bn to $3.1bn. Its forecast for adjusted losses remain unchanged, however, at between $300m and $360m.

It also left forecasts for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the group excluding the US unchanged, despite weakness in Irish retail and fixture cancellations in the UK. Analysts have pencilled in adjusted EBITDA of between £1.29bn and £1.39bn.

Peter Jackson, chief executive, said: "Flutter delivered a strong third-quarter performance.

"We are really pleased with our performance in our US division since the start of the NFL in September, where we are now averaging over 1m players on a regular NFL Sunday. In addition, we are seeing an increase in customer retention rates, as our parlay products continue to growing in popularity.

"As we look ahead, our product and geographic diversification, as well as recreational customer base, position us well for future growth."