Entain expects full-year net gaming revenue to rise 7% following robust 2021
FTSE 100 operator’s EBITDA lower end guidance upped from £850m to £875m ahead of March full-year results
In its Q4 trading update on Thursday, Entain announced that it expects group net gaming revenue (NGR) to be up 7% year-on-year (YoY). The group reported that Q4 NGR grew by 4% YoY, however, online NGR slid 9% due to “particularly strong comparatives”. The slide brought to an end 23 consecutive quarters of double-digit online growth, stretching back to early 2016, although Entain revealed that full-year online NGR increased YOY by 12%, or 13% in constant currency (cc), while active users were up 25% YoY. If it hadn’t been for Germany with its challenging regulatory regime, Entain said NGR would have been up 18%, or 20% in cc, last year. CFO and deputy CEO Rob Wood highlighted that a Q4 comparative is tough “because of various Coivd-19 related restrictions” during the same period in 2020. As for 2022, it is expected that online NGR will continue in the same way as Q4 2021 with a single-digit decline through H1, however, the group is expecting to be back to double-digit growth come Q3. Entain also upped its lower end guidance for full year EBITDA to between £875m-£885m from an original £850m-£900m. The group announced strong double-digit growth in all major markets except Germany, with Australia, Italy, Brazil, the UK and Georgia highlighted as particularly strong performers. CEO Jette Nygaard-Anderson said: “2021 has been another successful and eventful period for Entain and our market leading platform has driven another year of strong, sustainable and diversified growth. All our major markets have performed well. “We continue to see significant growth opportunities ahead of us, with a total addressable market of around $160bn across our new and existing markets, as well as in emerging areas of interactive entertainment.” Entain plans to invest £25m in 2022 in its ‘new opportunities’ segment to support the launch of its first skill-based esports wagering products following the purchase of esports platform Unikirn last year. Yesterday, BetMGM, Entain’s US joint venture partner, posted an approximate full-year NGR of around $850m for 2021. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said the US operator should post net revenue of $1.3bn in 2022 and should be EBITDA positive in the following year.