A settlement with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) led to a net loss of £936.5 million for Ladbrokes and Coral operator Entain in 2023, despite net gaming revenues growing by 11.1% during the year.
Last December the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) and the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) had Entain pay a financial penalty of £585 million due to a lack of anti-bribery procedures in the company’s Turkish business. Following this settlement, Entertain also made a charitable donation of £20 million and a £10 million payment for CPS and HMRC costs.
Other expenses hit Entain’s 2023., such as restructuring spending. Combined with the settlement these led to losses of nearly £1 billion.
Entain’s challenging year
Last year was truly one for changes for Entain. CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen steeped down from company leadership, with non-executive director Stella David stepping in her place in the interim.
“2023 presented a number of challenges for the group, both industry-wide and Entain-specific,” David says. “I am extremely proud of how our people around the world came together to navigate the business through an eventful and at times difficult year.”
Entertain continues to grow online
Fines and expenses aside, Entertain saw a positive 2023 where it performed in line with expectations. The UK remains its core market as it makes £1.95 billion in revenues, followed by Italy with £517 million and Australia and New Zealand with £515 million. The rest of Europe counts for £1.44 billion in revenues, and the rest of the world £339.9 million.
The online business is Entain’s strongest performer, with revenues growing by 12.3% over 2022 to reach £3.43 billion. A number of key markets contributed to these results, even as the company hit regulatory obstacles in the UK and Germany, not to mention weaker trading in Australia and Brazil.
“We are entirely focused on operational excellence and outstanding execution and, as a result, are confident that we are on a pathway to delivering future growth,” David adds. “We remain confident that our continued focused execution will drive organic growth into 2025 and beyond.”
