Two of the biggest London-listed bookies, Paddy Power owner Flutter and William Hill owner 888, each signalled a step away from plans for world domination today, while reporting big losses.
888 announced a major change in strategy to focus more on its ‘core markets’ like the UK, Italy and Denmark. It said that it may quit other countries, where its operations are ‘unprofitable’.
The new plan comes with a name change, as 888 will become Evoke. It said the change better reflects its ownership of multiple brand names, and its “mission to make life more interesting by delighting players”. The rebrand resembles GVC Holdings’ change of name to Entain in 2021, which came as the firm sought to distance itself from so-called ‘grey’ markets where the legal status of gambling is often vaguely defined.
888 had trouble in its non-core markets last year, as it launched an internal probe into the checks it performed on Middle Eastern high-rollers.
888’s strategy change comes under new boss Per Widerström, who took over in October.
Widerström said: “It is incredibly exciting to announce our Value Creation Plan, our strategy for success, our new financial targets, and our new corporate identity. Today marks the beginning of an exciting new dawn for this business.”
At the same time, the recently dual-listed owner Flutter Entertainment made a loss of upwards of $1 billion as was hit by massive writedown costs. Like 888, those were in ‘non-core’ international markets.
But unlike 888, the much larger Flutter hinted at a different approach. While Flutter aims to focus on markets where it is among the leaders, CEO Peter Jackson said Flutter may buy its way into that position in certain countries.
“There are a lot of regulated markets where we’re not number one,” he said.
The betting giant cut the value of its Pokerstars brand by more than $700 million. It said the change was due to a greater focus on countries that were not a core part of its strategy. While many of its divisions focus on only one or two markets, Pokerstars is present across the world.
Flutter also took a big writedown from acquired businesses, as well as a $165 million hit from an option held by American media giant Fox to buy shares in Flutter’s American arm.
CEO Peter Jackson said: “We believe that our strategy and competitive advantages position us well to continue to grow the business through both organic and inorganic opportunities.”
Flutter recently started selling its shares in the US, where its FanDuel brand has dominated after the states started legalising betting in 2018. It will switch to a primary US listing, and therefore lose its spot in the FTSE 100, on 31 May.
Jackson said: “As anticipated, our number one position in the US has transformed the Group's earnings profile during 2023 as FanDuel delivered a positive US full year Adjusted EBITDA for the first time.”
“I was proud to see Flutter shares trading for the first time on the NYSE on January 29, 2024 and we have been encouraged by the increased focus from new US investors as a result of our US listing. We are working towards a shareholder vote on May 1, 2024 to approve our primary listing move to NYSE.”
Entain, the other major UK-listed bookie, has also showed signs of focusing on less markets recently, launching a strategic review that could lead to the sales of its operations in some countries.
