Revenue at Flutter's Irish shops fell by 24% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2019 levels.
Shares in the world's largest online betting firm jumped by 7% today after it said its US revenues rose 45% year-on-year.
More than half of the amount staked across its brands came from US unit FanDuel for the first time, the company said in a trading update for the three months to the end of March.
While revenues in the UK and Ireland fell by 8%, Flutter said this was due to a winning streak enjoyed by punters and increased spending on initiatives to curb gambling addiction, rather than the worsening squeeze on household incomes.
"At this stage we're not seeing anything that we would point to specifically around cost of living, and in fact we're seeing reasonably consistent levels of engagement from customers between Q4 and Q1 compared to previous years, which reassures us to some extent," Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said.
The company's chief financial officer Jonathan Hill said the number of days customers bet a month and the amount they spent was not much different from the corresponding period in 2019, before Covid-19 lockdowns temporarily changed consumer behaviour.
The average number of people gambling on Flutter brands in the UK and Ireland, which include Sky Bet and recently acquired bingo operator Tombola, rose by 15% year-on-year.
Online betting is taking off in the US after a ban was lifted there in 2018. Flutter kept its number one position in the US with a 37% share, down from 40% at the end of 2021.
Average monthly users rose by 43% year-on-year as revenues in the US of £429m almost passed the £519m generated in the UK and Ireland for the first time.
After launching in New York in January, Jackson said he hoped FanDuel could clear the required regulatory hurdles to go live in California by the start of the next American Football season in September, a move that would "clearly be very material."
In today's trading update, Flutter Entertainment said its first quarter revenue grew by 6% as its average monthly players rose by 15% to 8.855 million from 7.672 million the same time last year.
Revenues for the three month period increased to $1.566m from $1.485m in the first quarter of 2021.
Flutter said its FanDuel business in the US delivered another excellent performance with 2.4 million customers and revenue of £429m.
It saw over 1.3 million new customers in the quarter and revenue grew by 45% driven by a 43% growth in average monthly players.
During the three month period, it launched its FanDuel sportsbook in New York and Louisiana in January and also expanded into Ontario in April.
Flutter said its bookie shops in Ireland and the UK were fully open during the first quarter of this year after being completely closed during the first quarter of 2021.
It said its UK shops have returned to near pre-Covid levels with revenue just 6% lower than in the first quarter of 2019.
But revenue at its Irish shops fell by 24% compared to 2019 levels due to the higher level of societal caution with respect to Covid. It is unlikely to return to pre-Covid levels in the current year, the company added.
Flutter said its online customers in Ireland and the UK grew by 15% but revenue declined by 20% due to the expected impact of safer gambling measures introduced over the last 12 months and favourable sports results compared to the same time last year.
In Australia, revenue at Sportsbet grew by 8% despite a more challenging market environment with Covid restrictions easing.
It said its strong performance was driven by player volumes as AMP
growth accelerated to 10% and it reported strong player engagement and
good retention of the 2021 Covid-enlarged
customer base.
Meanwhile, revenue in its International division was 5% lower, reflecting the impact of guided headwinds in the quarter. Excluding these headwinds revenue grew 6% with strong growth in focus markets of Canada, Brazil, India, Georgia and Armenia.
Peter Jackson, Flutter's chief executive, said the first quarter saw
the company launch its new global sustainability strategy, the Positive
Impact Plan, which aligns its commercial goals with its commitment to
support customers, colleagues and the communities in which it operates.
"In the US we had another exciting quarter as FanDuel continued to
deliver unparalleled scale, with the US accounting for over half of all
stakes for the Flutter Group in Q1," Peter Jackson said.
"We beat a number of FanDuel records in the quarter – Super Bowl
Sunday was the single biggest day ever for new customers and we had over
1.5 million active customers on the day. March Madness this year also
proved our most popular season yet attracting 19 million wagers across
the tournament," the CEO said.
"Outside of the US, our business performed well, adapting to the
evolving regulatory and trading environment and reflecting the benefits
of our global diversification. In the UK and Ireland we launched several
new products in the quarter," he said.
"With our enlarged recreational customer base, winning position in the US and ongoing focus on sustainable growth, our business remains well placed for the future," he added.
Shares in Flutter Entertainment jumped in Dublin trade today.
Additional reporting by Glenda Sheridan
