Company executives expressed to analysts this morning that 2024 is a "transformational" year for Entain, with success depending on victories in Brazil and the UK.
Entain's Chief Commercial Officer and President Sameer Deen stated at the operator's mid-term performance release that achieving victories in these two regions is crucial for driving organic growth for the group in the future.
CEO Stella David praised the first half results, proving that efforts to improve operational performance have been fruitful, with revenue growing by 6% as estimated. Apart from Central and Eastern Europe, Brazil was the main driver of growth in the six months up to June 30.
After a 9% increase in net gaming revenue in Brazil in the first quarter, growth accelerated in the second quarter, with a year-on-year increase of 48%. Entain expects this positive momentum to continue into the second half of the year as the legal gambling and online gaming market opens from January 1, 2025.
Deen mentioned that 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 1 billion pounds, which the operator attributed to regulatory changes last year. Gaming NGR fell by 7% to 611.2 million pounds, and sports betting also declined by 5% to 393.5 million pounds, due to a 10% decrease in player stakes.
Casual players, new products, and LadBucks are driving the UK's economic recovery
Entain's UK and Ireland business is expected to return to growth by the end of this year, partly due to targeting casual customers through its brands.
Bhens stated that simplifying the core customer journey in the UK is a focus, while also improving website speed and further developing its free game rewards and participation program LadBucks. LadBucks has driven conversion rates for real money activities.
Before the upcoming Premier League season, we will launch a new internal betting generator and introduce application updates to improve player loading speeds.
Deen said: "Thanks to the hard work of our new UK leadership team, we are seeing the beginnings of progress."
Earlier this year, Entain's UK leadership team separated from the broader European management structure. By removing some European markets from team responsibilities, the leadership can focus entirely on the UK and Ireland.
Bhens stated that having only one team in European operations was "too burdensome, and now this team is fully committed to simplifying the UK's product and marketing experience." The team is led by former retail boss Andy Hicks, with former William Hill director Charlotte Emery joining as Chief Marketing Officer in June.
