Flutter to launch a $5bn share buyback

Flutter Entertainment will launch a new $5 billion share buyback next month to be deployed over the next three to four years.
At an investors’ day in New York, the Ladbrokes and Sportingbet operator outlined a long-term growth plan intended to create a path to adjusted underlying earnings in 2027 of more than $5 billion.
It said that at the midpoint of its forecast for America and the rest of the world, group revenues for 2027 were expected to hit $21 billion, representing three years of compound annual growth of 14 per cent.
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The company, which has shifted its primary listing from London to New York, said that it held “unparalleled leadership positions” in the United States and the rest of world through a portfolio of market-leading brands and global scale. “This empowers our local brands with the power of a global leader,” it said.
Flutter said that by 2030 it would be targeting a regulated total addressable market of $368 billion, with global gross gaming revenue forecast to deliver compound growth of 8 per cent a year.
In an update to its forecast, it predicted an adjusted margin expansion by 2027 of 700 basis points to about 25 per cent, based on underlying earnings. Free cashflow over the same time frame would be $2.5 billion.
Its addressable market for North America was now expected to be about $70 billion, of which the US is forecast to be approximately $63 billion, 1.5 times its previous estimate, and Canada is estimated to be $7 billion.
Analysts welcomed the announcements. Paul Ruddy, a gaming and leisure analyst at Davy, the broker, suggested the group had a “considerable global market opportunity” with “compelling growth and returns”, while Brandt Montour, at Barclays, pointed to the announcements as “better than expected across the board”, with granular 2027 targets “a nice surprise”.
Flutter said its value-creation model gave it significant capital allocation opportunities, with the capacity to pursue organic growth, value-creative mergers and acquisitions and shareholder returns. The company is in the process of completing two more acquisitions, buying Snaitech, the Italian betting group, from Playtech and Betnacional, the Brazilian operator.
Peter Jackson, 48, Flutter’s chief executive and the architect of its remarkable growth, said: “Our intention to deliver up to $5 billion of share repurchases over the next three to four years reflects our confidence in the future.”
London-listed shares in Flutter rose by £11.85, or 6.9 per cent, to £182.85.