- England's Euro's success to boost bookies?
- Persimmon to bring forward payout
- Deliveroo reports better than expected Q2
Football could very well be coming home…which bodes well for Entain
As the pandemic betting boom continues, gambling group Entain (ENT) saw its net gaming revenue climb by more than a tenth in the six months to 30 June, with a 42 per cent increase in the second quarter.
Benefitting from the resumption of sporting events, the Ladbrokes-owner delivered two consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in its online business, with net gaming revenue from online sports betting surging by 55 per cent in the first half of the year.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates says that “England’s semi-final victory will be a double cause for celebration in the Entain offices. An appearance in the final is an open goal for the group, and will be a boon for sports wagers.”
Over in the burgeoning US market, Entain’s BetMGM joint venture with MGM Resorts International (US:MGM) is the number two operator for sports betting and internet gambling with a 21 per cent market share. It pulled in $350m (£254m) of net gaming revenue between January and June.
On the back of its first half momentum, Entain has upgraded its full year guidance. It now believes that cash profits (Ebitda) will come in between £850-900m in 2021, ahead of analyst consensus expectations of £828m.
Further reading:
British gambling and the race to conquer America
Persimmon accelerates dividend timetable
The run of strong housebuilder trading updates continued today with Persimmon (PSN), which reported strong customer enquiry levels and said that its rate of sales in the first half of this year has been ahead of both 2020 and 2019.
Rising sales prices pushed up revenue for the period to £1.84bn – again up on both comparators – and has prompted management to bring forward the payment of a one-off 110p-a-share dividend. The distribution was previously set to be paid in two instalments this year, but will now be awarded in one chunk on 13 August to shareholders on the register on 23 July. AN
Deliveroo upgrades guidance on bumper second quarter
Food delivery platform Deliveroo (ROO) says that its gross transaction value (GTV) surged by 76 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter to £1.7bn. The number of orders it handled swelled by almost 90 per cent to 78m.
Following the strong first half, the company has increased its full year guidance. It now anticipates that GTV will grow by 50 to 60 per cent in 2021, up from previous expectations of 30 to 40 per cent growth.
However, Deliveroo says that it will accelerate discretionary investments in growth opportunities in the second half and also believes that average order values will revert towards pre-pandemic levels. As such the 2021 gross margin is set to come in at the lower end of the guided 7.5 to 8 per cent range.
Broker Jefferies believes investors should react positively to the update as “[e]xecution is evidently going well. Fears over a post-lockdown collapse in demand are unfounded.”
Deliveroo will certainly be hoping so after its disastrous market debut. The shares were up 3 per cent in early trading at 330p, although they are still sitting well below their IPO price of 390p.
For our full analysis of today's events, read the live blog below:
