Women's Euros And Club World Cup Boost Ladbrokes Owner Entain's.
CFO states Women's Euros and Club World Cup improve online betting
Entain raises annual online net video gaming earnings growth projection
Annual core revenue forecast goes beyond market expectations
By Yamini Kalia
Aug 12 (Reuters) -
British gambling firm Entain forecast its annual core profit outlook above market expectations on Tuesday, driven by strong online wagering momentum of the Women's Euros and the inaugural Club World Cup tournament.
"We're seeing a rise in interest in female sports," Entain CFO Rob Wood informed Reuters, adding that the recent
Women's Euros
, where the British soccer group scored a historic win versus world champs Spain, was the most bet-on ladies's Euros ever.
Entain saw record engagement during the Club World Cup
- the year's most bet-on football match - and the 2025 French Open, its most bet-on Grand Slam ever.
Entain's net gaming revenue in the UK and Ireland, its largest market, came ahead of expectations with a 9% growth at consistent currency for the 6 months ended June.
Total net gaming profits rose 10% at constant currency.
Entain shares rose nearly 3% on Tuesday, before paring gains to fall 0.5% lower by 0806 GMT.
Individual player fandoms have likewise changed wagering behaviour over the last few years, Wood stated, as more individuals are betting on gamer outcomes instead of team outcomes throughout matches.
"The most popular bets tend to be a combination of who's going to win the match, who's going to score the very first goal, or the very first goal in the NFL," Wood said.
Entain recovered a stronger-than-expected market share throughout its core areas in the very first half of the year, offsetting the tough contrast of in 2015, which had been by the Euros tournament.
The company raised its annual online net video gaming income development to about 7% on a constant-currency basis, from previous expectations of a mid-single-digit percentage development.
Annual core earnings is anticipated between 1.10 billion and 1.15 billion pounds ($1.48 billion-$1.55 billion), above market expectations of 1.11 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7440 pounds) (Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Unnamalai L in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)