Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR) grew revenues and customers last year but expansion added to losses over the year.
The online gambling company grew revenues by 37% last year to £6.04bn as its recreational customer base rose to over 7.6mln with the US making big leaps in gambling legality.
But the Betfair-owner made a loss before tax of £288mln compare with £1mln profit in 2020, which the company attributed to growth in new markets, contributing to a loss per share of 236.5p.
“Despite our scale we retain a challenger mindset; this year we launched a number of new features to our market-leading same game parlay product, maintaining our competitive advantage in sports,”
“I'm also pleased to see the progress on our path towards profitability; FanDuel sportsbook and gaming business delivered positive contribution in 2021 for the first time, a significant milestone for the brand.
“Overall, I am pleased with the progress we have made during 2021 and believe Flutter is exceptionally well positioned for future growth."
Flutter has been making in-roads into the high-potential US market, which has slowly relaxed online gambling laws in recent years. Its key US subsidiary FanDuel made up 40% of online sportsbook market share in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The company also said it was monitoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine closely.
Flutter said that since completing its merger with TSG, it had “materially reduced” its exposure to the Russian online market, accounting for £41mln in contribution in 2021, while Ukraine accounted for £19mln.
Yesterday, Flutter announced that staff bonuses would be tied to employees’ success in stamping out gambling addictions in a new sustainability strategy.
The company said its outlook for 2022 was favourable, with the first seven weeks of 2021 reaping revenues 2% higher than the same time last year.
“As a result, we expect that Flutter's revenue growth in 2022 will accelerate as the year progresses, assuming expected sports results. This trend will also reflect the phasing of safer gambling measures introduced in 2021,” Flutter said.
Flutter's share price rose 3.51% yesterday to close at 10,765p, in advance of this morning's earnings.