Global sports betting company Flutter reported its financial results for the first half of 2022 ending on June 30, which included the financial results for its subsidiary Sportsbet, the top sports betting provider in Australia.
Sportsbet Reports 5% Increase in Revenue Year-On-Year
Sportsbet did very well during the period from January 1 to June 30, 2022. It reported revenue amounting to £612 million ($743 million), which marked a 5% rise compared to the same period in 2021.
During the first six months of 2022 Sportsbet’s main focus was player retention, which was achieved through various generosity initiatives leading to the new seasons of AFL and NRL. This led to an increase in average monthly players by 10% compared to the same period in 2021.
Player engagement was further boosted by the already established products ‘Same Game Multi Cash Out’ and ‘Same Game Multi Bet Tracker’, which continued to be popular with gamblers.
Flutter has stated that Sportsbet is well positioned to take on the coming tax increases in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, which are expected to lead to annual costs of £22 million ($26 million) in 2022 and £73 million ($88 million) in 2023. Flutter further highlighted that Sportsbet has proven to be well able to deal with regulatory risks as shown by its track record of handling the Point of Consumption tax introduced in 2019.
Flutter Results for H12022
Flutter reported an increase of revenue by 11% in H12022 to £3.4 billion ($4.1 billion) compared to the £3.1 billion ($3.7 billion) reported in H12021. Group EBITDA, however, decreased by 23% to £434 million ($524 million) in H12022 from £562 million ($679 million) in H12021.
Flutter flourished on the US market where its subsidiary FanDuel has already grabbed 51% of the market share in sports betting and is the leader in 13 out of the 15 US states where it operates. The company’s US revenue made up a third of its global earnings with an increase of 61% to £1 billion ($1.2 billion) in the first half of 2022 compared to £652 million ($787 million) in the first half of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA for Flutter’s US operations marked the only positive increase across the divisions of the group with 52% rise to £132 million ($159 million) for H12022 from £87 million ($105 million) for H12021.
The UK, where the company operates PaddyPower, Sky Bet and Betfair in addition to shops across the country, was the declining market for Flutter. The group’s UK revenue decreased by 4%. The decline was due to the lifting of COVID restrictions and people spending less time at home in front of the computer, which led to a decrease in sports betting activities. New measures on safe gambling also contributed to declining profits.