By Shashwat Awasthi
(Reuters) -British bookmaker Entain reported a 12% rise in annual adjusted core profit on Thursday and said it was comfortable with market expectations for 2025, sending its shares up as much as 7% to their highest in more than two months.
Executives at the Ladbrokes, Coral and Eurobet owner, however, remained tight-lipped on plans to find a permanent CEO following Gavin Isaacs’ sudden departure last month after only five months in the job.
Deputy CEO Rob Wood told Reuters that interim CEO Stella David would remain in the role “for as long as it takes”, adding that there was no definitive timeline to appoint a permanent boss. He declined further comment on the reasons for Isaacs’ exit.
Last month, some analysts pointed to “unreconcilable differences” between Isaacs and the board. His predecessor had also left abruptly in 2023 after reports of shareholder and investor dissatisfaction.
The company’s shares jumped on Thursday, however, as an earlier-than-expected recovery in UK and Ireland and rapid growth in Brazil helped it post 1.09 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in adjusted core earnings.
David “will be hoping that today’s robust results will divert investors’ attention away from recent boardroom drama,” Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a note.
“Entain is in a strong position to grow its share of the world’s most lucrative gambling markets, but until a permanent (CEO) replacement is found… question marks will remain over the strategy.”
That strategy involves banking on a booming U.S. market amid tightening regulation elsewhere, with Entain’s U.S. joint venture with MGM Resorts expected to turn a profit this year and rake in core earnings of $500 million in the coming years.
Rival Flutter Entertainment, the world’s largest online betting company, is also bullish on the U.S. market.
“We’re very focussed on BetMGM,” Wood told Reuters, adding that there was still scope to expand to U.S. states such as Texas and California in the future.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
