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Entain Reveals Bullish Outlook As the Bookies Beat Punters at Euro 2024

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Euro 2024 Flag
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Having previously remaining upbeat despite some challenging results so far in 2024, Entain are bullish about the future after enjoying an incredibly profitable Euro 2024 campaign.

The Ladbrokes and Coral owner, who also have other interests around the world, have revealed their results for quarter two of 2024, with profits up around 8%, year on year, for the April-June segment – as opposed to a 2% loss, year on year, in the first quarter.

Their results were otherwise flat (0%) prior to the start of the Euros; revealing just how beneficial England’s defeat in the final to Spain was to the bottom line of bookmakers.

Bearing Fruit

A spokesperson for Entain confirmed the positivity of their second quarter results, which were strong enough for the company to upgrade their outlook for the rest of 2024.

To offer some context, the Entain group lost around £450 million in the first half of 2023 – as a result of regulatory headwinds and tough economic conditions.

But for the same period in 2024, their net loss was £27.6 million – not a stellar result by any means, but indicative of an operator heading in the right direction at least.

And in terms of revenue, Entain made a gain of 8% on the second quarter of 2023 after the results at Euro 2024 went their way.

Having originally expected a downturn in terms of the profits of their online business, the firm have also reported that they now expect an increase in profit of around 1-5% on the year.

Stella David, who is acting as the interim chief executive officer until new appointment Gavin Isaacs steps into the breach, commented: “Entain’s first-half results are clear evidence that our hard work improving the group’s operational performance is bearing fruit.

“Whilst there is more work to do, we are pleased with the progress so far and look forward to building further on these solid foundations in the second half and beyond.”

To mark the surprisingly positive nature of the earnings report, shares in Entain rose in value by 8% towards the end of last week.

But it’s not all rosy. BetMGM, which acts as Entain’s American-facing operation, is expected to post losses at a higher rate than previously expected as the firm struggles to break the stranglehold of the two dominant players in the United States: DraftKings and FanDuel.

All told, the operator lost $123 million in the first half of 2024 – around £96 million.

Back of the Net

Entain Share Price

Entain’s results show just how useful Euro 2024 was to bookmakers from a profitability perspective.

England, the pre-tournament favourites who remained the market principle up until the semi-final stage of the competition, were – as ever – the most backed team to lift the trophy.

So if Gareth Southgate’s side had gone on to beat Spain in the final, it would have cost the bookies millions – quite literally. Lee Phelps, spokesperson for William Hill, revealed: “As we have been Top Price Guarantee for the duration of the tournament and before it started, an England win would cost us deep into seven figures.”

He also alluded to the financial hit his company would have taken had Harry Kane – the most-backed player – ended the tournament as the Golden Boot winner.

Fortunately for Hills, Entain and all of the other betting firms out there, Kane ended in a six-way tie as the top goalscorer with Cody Gakpo, Georges Mikautadze, Jamal Musiala, Dani Olmo and Ivan Schranz; ensuring that punters got a heavily watered-down payout when backing the England frontman.

Of course, England also went on to lose the final to Spain – leaving bookies breathing a sigh of relief, despite the fact that the Spaniards actually started that game as favourites.

They did, however, have to fork out around £860,000 to Irish MMA star Conor McGregor, after he revealed that he backed the Spaniards at pre-tournament odds of 11/1 to lift the trophy.