Gambling giant Flutter attracting 12m customers a month in post-World Cup boost

It helped the business grow revenue by 54 per cent over a year to £2.4 million during the three-month period.

The results come just days after the Government published a White Paper on the gambling industry.

The paper warned that around 300,000 people in Britain are estimated to be experiencing problem gambling, and another 1.8 million are “gambling at elevated levels of risk”.

“In the UK, the publication of the White Paper has vindicated the proactive actions we have taken to further embed safer gambling across our organisation through our Play Well strategy,” said chief executive Peter Jackson.

“The changes will bring consistency to safer gambling protections for customers and make responsible play a priority across all operators, which we strongly support.”

On a call with reporters, he called the paper “a significant moment for the sector” after years of uncertainty and said the company would continue to engage with the Government as it consults on proposed changes.

“We’ve already implemented many of the measures proposed,” Mr Jackson said.

Flutter said that revenue from its UK and Ireland sports business rose by 16 per cent as the company held on to the gamblers it attracted during the World Cup late last year.

Revenue at the business’s retail stores in the countries also rose by 15 per cent as Paddy Power grew its market share, but also because last year’s results were still being affected by Covid-19.

The company’s UK and Ireland division, which includes the Sky Betting and Gaming, Paddy Power, Betfair and Tombola brands, reported overall revenue of £608m in the first quarter of the year, up 17 per cent.

Revenue from its 600 Paddy Power betting shops was also up, increasing 15 per cent to £77m in the first three months of 2023.

The group also reported “very strong performance” in the US with a 92 per cent increase in revenue.

Mr Jackson said of the American results: “We added over 1.5m customers in the quarter and we remain the clear market leader.

"Our US sports betting handle of $10.9bn represented almost 60 per cent of the Group’s total sportsbook stakes.”

He added: “Outside of the US, pro forma revenue growth of 8 per cent demonstrated the benefits of diversification of our portfolio.

"We continued to take share across our UK & Ireland and International businesses while in Australia we did an excellent job defending our leadership position.

“We were also very pleased to receive overwhelming support among our shareholders for the addition of a Flutter US listing.”