Entain’s Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) of £5.2bn in 2024, reflected underlying growth of 4%. Performance was primarily driven by overseas markets with Central and Eastern European territories up 12% and other territories up 6%. UK & Ireland managed a flat performance after a second-half recovery made up for first-half declines. Net revenue in BetMGM, the US joint venture, grew 7% to $2.1bn.
Underlying EBITDA was up 5% to £1.1bn in-line with the latest guidance.
Free cash-flow increased from £188mn to £281mn, largely due to the improved profitability. Year-end underlying net debt was broadly flat at £3.3bn.
A dividend of 9.3p per share is expected to be paid next month, bringing the full-year total 18.6p.
Entain expects mid-single digit growth in Online NGR this year, and remains comfortable with market expectations for cash profit of around £1.1bn.
The shares were up 3.3% in early trading.
Our view
Entain’s 2024 results provided some much-needed assurance for investors following the unexpected departure of the CEO just a few weeks earlier. There were no nasty surprises in the numbers, with all markets accelerating in the second half of the year. The recent revelation that US joint venture BetMGM is heading towards profitability in 2025 is also a positive.
Bricks-and-mortar operations are holding growth back a bit, but with online firmly the direction of travel, we’re not too concerned. For the purposes of maintaining or gaining market share, we still believe in the importance of a physical presence.
Entain’s biggest revenue generator remains the UK & Ireland (UK&I), which saw some very strong growth at the end of 2024 backed by a strong slate of online content and experiences but also helped by some weak comparatives.
Entain appears to be through the worst of recent regulatory headwinds, but further clampdowns can’t be ruled out. UK&I trading started strongly in 2025 but is expected to normalise later in the year. Fragile consumer confidence and cost headwinds remain risks to be aware of.
But there are more exciting opportunities overseas. One such example is Brazil, the fastest-growing market outside the United States. Entain is already well established here and was an early applicant for a license in a new regulatory framework. This opens up commercial opportunities, but on the flipside new gaming taxes are putting a brake on margins.
Improving profitability is turning out to be harder than expected with online margins expected to remain static in 2025. With 'Project Romer' on track to deliver £100mn of annualised cost savings by 2026 there’s some scope for improvement in future years. But we're not getting too excited until some results come through.
Entain’s hope of cracking the US rests with its joint venture, BetMGM. It's taking longer than expected to reach profitability due to heavy marketing spend in the growing online betting and gaming market, but there’s hope that losses will soon end. BetMGM’s management is confident it will hit $500mn of annual cash profit in due course. But just how quickly it can close in on that target isn’t clear.
Entain looks to be overcoming recent challenges and there are some attractive growth prospects to go for. For those willing to accept the higher risk that accompanies the sector, the valuation doesn’t look too demanding. But until a permanent CEO is appointed, investors are likely to remain nervous, so expect more volatility than usual.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk
Consumer services companies are medium risk in terms of ESG, and very few companies excel at managing them. That leaves plenty of opportunity for forward-thinking firms. Product governance concerns are a primary driver of this risk, along with the environmental and social impact of those products and services. Additional material issues to the industry are resource use and waste, and labour relations.
Entain’s overall management of material ESG issues is strong.
Entain has established a board-level ESG committee overseeing issues like safer betting, regulatory compliance, and anti-bribery. The company has strong policies on responsible gambling, anti-bribery, and whistleblowing, but needs improvement in responsible marketing, data privacy, and political involvement.
Entain key facts
All ratios are sourced from LSEG Datastream, based on previous day’s closing values. Please remember yields are variable and not a reliable indicator of future income. Keep in mind key figures shouldn’t be looked at on their own – it’s important to understand the big picture.
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