Flutter revenue up 36.7% but profit dips amid international headwinds

This was a rise of 36.7% compared to revenue collected in 2020, which amounted to £4.41bn.

This growth was partly attributed to Flutter’s 2020 combination with The Stars Group, which meant that 2021 was the first year in which brands such as PokerStars came under the Flutter umbrella.

Sports revenue made up £3.77bn of the total revenue, up 25.8% year-on-year, while gaming revenue fell very slightly to £2.26bn.

Operations in the UK and Ireland, where Flutter saw a 29% market share, generated revenue of £2.06bn. This was £34m more than in 2020. Online UK and Ireland revenue generated £1.88bn of this, while retail made up the remaining £174m.

Revenue from Australia totalled £1.29bn, up 20.3%. Flutter’s market share increased by 7% to 50% in the country in 2021.

US revenue, mostly from the FanDuel brand, added £1.39bn to the total – more than double that in 2020, with a market share of 40%. International revenue, mostly made up of PokerStars’ operations, came to £1.28bn, down 12%.

The business said this was mostly due to regulatory headwinds in Germany and the Netherlands, markets that underwent major change in 2021.

Cost of sales totalled £2.26bn, £480m higher than in 2020. This left gross profit at £3.77bn, up 8.3% year-on-year.

Further sales and marketing costs, came to £1.50bn – £378m more than in 2020. Following this, the business’ contribution fell to £2.26bn, a decrease of 3.6%.

Further operating costs rose by 16.4% to £1.16bn, while corporate costs decreased by 16.5% to £101m. Considering this, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled £1.00bn, down 18.6% year-on-year.

After depreciation and amortisation costs at £255m, the total net profit for 2021 was £746m, down by 24.6%.

Average monthly customers came to 7.6 million for the year, up by 23.4% year-on-year.

“2021 was another strong year for the group as we made good progress against our strategic objectives and grew our recreational customer base to over 7.6m customers,” said Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter.

“Overall, I am pleased with the progress we have made during 2021 and believe Flutter is exceptionally well positioned for future growth.”

Yesterday (28 February) Flutter debuted its sustainability initiative, the Positive Impact Plan.

“Yesterday we launched our new sustainability strategy, our Positive Impact Plan, which will see Flutter set a positive agenda for future change,” continued Jackson.

“Through this strategy we will build on the significant progress already made in areas such as safer gambling and measure our performance against defined goals to demonstrate how we are responsible leaders in our industry.”

Looking forward, 2022 revenue is set to be boosted by Flutter’s acquisition of Tombola, which was announced in November 2021 and finalised in January 2022. The business also agreed to acquire Italian lottery and gaming operator Sisal in December 2021.