Flutter profit falls on regulation and US investment
By Sean Farrell
Date: Thursday 27 Feb 2020
(Sharecast News) - Flutter Entertainment's annual profit fell by more than a third as regulatory and tax costs rose and the gambling company invested in its growing US business.
Pretax profit for the year to the end of December fell 38% to £136m as revenue rose 14% to £2.1bn.
The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair said regulatory and tax changes cost it £107m as governments increased taxes and sought to protect vulnerable gamblers. The company kept its annual dividend unchanged at 200p a share.
Flutter shares fell 4.9% to £84.04 at 08:28 GMT.
The FTSE 100 company bought FanDuel in the US to in 2018 to capitalise on looser federal sports betting rules and merged the business with its US Betfair operations. The company has invested more than $600m (£464m) in FanDuel, including $130m on marketing in 2019, and expects the market for its products to be worth more than $10bn.
Flutter said FanDuel finished 2019 as the biggest online sports betting and casino business in the US with 44% market share in the states where it has launched. In a further North American expansion Fluttter has agreed to buy Canadian poker company Stars Group and is waiting for regulatory approvals.
Chief Executive Peter Jackson said: "2019 was a very significant year for Flutter, with further successful expansion in the United States, enhancement of responsible gambling initiatives within our business and the announcement in October of our proposed merger with The Stars Group. The new financial year is off to a strong start with good momentum across all our brands."
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