Entain Chief Business Officer and President Sameer Deen stated at the operator's mid-year results conference on August 8 that achieving victories in Brazil and the UK is crucial for the group's future organic growth.
CEO Stella David praised the mid-year results demonstrating that the efforts to improve operational performance had paid off, with revenue growing by 6% as forecasted. Apart from Central and Eastern Europe, Brazil was the main driver of growth in the six months ending June 30.
After a 9% increase in Brazil's net gaming revenue in the first quarter, growth accelerated in the second quarter, with a 48% year-over-year increase. Entain expects this positive momentum to continue into the second half of the year as the legal betting and online gaming markets are slated to open from January 1, 2025.
Deen mentioned, this shows the impact of operational transformation, with the current focus shifting to the UK.
The NGR in the UK and Ireland dropped by 6% to GBP 1 billion, which the operators attributed to regulatory changes last year. Gaming NGR decreased by 7% to GBP 611.2 million, and sports betting also fell by 5% to GBP 393.5 million due to a 10% decrease in player stakes.
Deen told analysts, "We are undertaking the same operational transformation in the UK as we did in Brazil. Although the transformation journey in the UK is still in its early stages, we are already witnessing encouraging signs of recovery."
Brazil is Entain's "fastest growing market."
Deen explained that Brazil is their fastest-growing market, while the UK is their largest market.
Due to increased performance marketing investment by Sportingbet in Brazil and a revival of the brand experience, the number of first-time depositors (FTD) in the first half of 2024 is expected to be higher than in 2022 and 2023.
Localization of payments aids growth. Pix launched an instant payment service, and within a week of launching in Brazil, it attracted over one million deposits.
Bhens stated that localization is crucial for market performance in places like Brazil, and Entain has doubled the number of staff in its localization team.
He noted that compared to last year, four times the number of app enhancements will be implemented in 2024, and transitioning to regulated markets will be a top consideration for the enterprise.
Entain is also undergoing the necessary technological and regulatory reforms to meet the requirements of Brazil's opening gambling market in preparation for its launch in January 2025. Sportingbet applied for a license in July, meaning if approved, it will be among the first batch of companies to be licensed.
Casual players, new products, and LadBucks drive UK economic recovery
Entain's UK and Ireland business is expected to return to growth by the end of this year, partly by targeting casual customers through its brands.
Bhens stated, "Simplifying the core customer journey in the UK is a focus, along with improving site speed, and further developing its free-to-play rewards and engagement program LadBucks, which has driven conversion rates for real money activities.
"Ahead of the upcoming Premier League season, we are launching a new in-house bet builder and rolling out app updates to enhance player loading speed."
Deen stated, "Thanks to the hard work of our new UK leadership team, we are seeing the sprouts of progress."
Earlier this year, Entain's UK leadership team was carved out from a broader European management structure. By eliminating some European markets from the team's responsibilities, the leadership can focus entirely on the UK and Ireland.
Bhens mentioned that having just one team handling European operations was overly burdensome, and now this team is fully committed to simplifying the product and marketing experience in the UK. The team is led by former retail boss Andy Hicks, while former William Hill director Charlotte Emery took the role of Chief Marketing Officer in June.
