Sportsbet’s year-on-year revenue fell nine per cent in the final quarter of 2023 as the decline in the Australian wagering industry takes hold, with racing highlighted as a particular pinch point in those results.
An update on Sportsbet’s 2023 performance was contained in a broader trading announcement from parent company Flutter, which overall reported an eight per cent growth when compared to the final quarter of 2023.
Sportsbet’s revenues for the fourth quarter of 2023 were £304 million ($A587 million), down from £332 million ($A661 million) during the same period in 2022. However, adjusted for currency differences, it was recorded as a two per cent decline.
The result was an improvement on the third quarter result which saw an 18 per cent decline on raw revenue year on year, calculated at a seven percent decline when including currency fluctuations.
Flutter confirmed its update that the overall decline across the 2023 fiscal year for Sportsbet was eight per cent, reduced to three per cent when considering currency. Sportsbet’s unaudited revenue for 2023 finished at £1.167 million (AU$2.25 billion), compared to £1.263 billion (AU$2.43 billion) in 2022.
However, the CEO of parent company Flutter, Peter Jackson, retains full faith in the market-leading brand.
“The first point I’d make is going back to the strength of the business we have down there,” Jackson told an earnings call.
“Sportsbet is the number one operator there and it has grown very significantly since pre-COVID. It is giving back some of those gains, and we talked about that in the third quarter. Under our forward-looking indicators, we thought it would be a bit softer and it has manifested as we expected.”
“Revenue is off a little bit, particularly in racing where we are seeing staking declines.”
That eight per cent fall is broadly consistent with the overall decline in wagering in Australia, which has been estimated by various parties as between seven and 10 per cent through 2023.
Bren O’Brien
“It’s a really good business and we are very confident in it and we are pleased to be the number one there,” Jackson said.
While the fall in revenue contrasted with the broader trend across Flutter, which through 2023 grew its overall revenue by 24 per cent globally and 38 per cent in the United States, the update pointed to a growth in average monthly customers in Australia of two per cent across the year.
Flutter is set to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 29 in a landmark move for the company.
“Revenue is off a little bit, particularly in racing where we are seeing staking declines” - Flutter CEO Peter Jackson
That pending listing prevented the update of more precise EBITDA figures, with a full suite of figures, plus projections for the 2024 year set to be released in March.
