Entain’s UK performance remained steady in Q3 2025 with both online and retail revenue up year-over-year, but group leadership continues to warn of the potential impacts of gambling tax raises in the country.

UK and Irish revenue rose 8% YoY from Q3 2024 for the operator, with online revenue up 15% and retail revenue up 2% – the latter a continuing trend from Q2/H1 where retail growth also occurred, despite retail in the UK in general appearing to be in decline.

Both Gambling Commission gross gambling yield (GGY) figures and stats from the latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) show a drop in retail betting earnings and in retail betting participation. This does not seem to have affected Entain’s Ladrokes and Coral properties to the same extent as others, however.

However, some major changes appear on the horizon in the UK that have all gambling operators from new market entrants to giant PLCs like Entain concerned about their bottom lines – this is of course tax changes.

Budget looming

Though the Treasury has stated that tax hikes are not set in stone, it also can’t stop dropping hints. Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that gambling firms should ‘pay their fair share’ at the Labour conference last month, with the budget due to be announced on 26 November.

Amid this tax debate, Entain’s CEO, Stella David, has been busy speaking to the mainstream press. Last week she spoke with The Times warning of the unintended consequences of raising gaming taxes, and now she has spoken with The Observer about the same topic.

“For every £1 of profit we make, over two-thirds is paid out in tax,” she told the newspaper. “Piling on yet more taxes won’t raise more money – it will shrink the regulated market, cost jobs, and hand yet more business to illegal operators who pay no tax and protect no one.”

David had previously told The Times that Entain may have to consider closing up to 200 of its Ladbrokes Coral betting shops should tax raises impact its bottom lines. Overall, it seems that UK revenue is in good stead – but with tax raises on the horizon in both the UK and Ireland, the big question marks will hang over EBITDA and profit.

“It is very well proven that every time you increase tax, the black market increases in size,” David told analysts on the group’s investor call this morning. “Put extra regulation in place that limits opportunity for players, they tend to go to black market as well.”

She added: “The objective is to raise more taxes, then the best opportunity is to reduce the amount of black market that exists in the UK. Today, over 500 sites exist. They look very professional, and they promise great rates, no protections, no guarantee you get paid out.

“And from a customer point of view, they pose a real risk. And for the government, they pose a real risk of accelerating the bleeding away of tax revenues to people who pay no tax at all.”

It’s not all about Britain

Of course, Entain is a multinational company with interests across various markets – extending beyond UK&I to cover mainland Europe via brands like Bwin and Supersport, Australia via Ladbrokes and Neds, and the US via its 50% shareholding in the BetMGM joint venture.

Headline figures saw this international brand portfolio drive group NGR by 4%, online NGR 5% and retail NGR by 3%. US revenue was excluded from these figures, but now that BetMGM has turned to profitability, the JV is providing a reliable revenue stream for the company from the high value US market.

Rob Wood, Group CFO, told investors that Entain is ‘delighted with the cash coming out of BetMGM’. Aside from the US, the picture seems mixed across Entain’s international markets, with the International division seeing NGR rise 1%, with online revenue up 1% and retail up 1%.

Online volume was ‘largely offset by customer friendly sports results in September’, according to the Q3 statement, with ‘double-digit online NGR growth’ seen across Austria, Canada, Georgia, Greece, Spain and New Zealand, with the company effectively having exclusive sports betting rights in the latter.

Italian revenue also rose 6%, while its Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) divison – which the aforementioned SuperSport in Croatia forms the foundation of after being acquired in 2022 – recorded revenue growth of 10%, with 9% online growth and 11% retail growth.

However, while Brazil has been viewed as a potential goldmine by many ahead of market launch on 1 January this year, Entain’s revenue there fell 11% YoY this quarter, while Australia continues to present challenges, with revenue dropping 6%.

Hurdles down under

Further challenges could be on the horizon in Australia also, with PM Anthony Albanese’ government facing pressure from backbench MPs and reform advocates to make good on the 31 recommendations for regulatory reform seen in the ‘Murphy report’.

“In Australia, we were a shade positive in Q3 and that’s really how we see the market going forward,” Wood told an interested analyst on the group’s earnings call.

“Low single digits positive is our best guess of what we see from the volumes perspective in Australia in 2026. From our perspective, it’s stable, albeit when you look at NGR in the quarter, obviously, it looks adverse.”

Entain has a lot on its plate right now – regulatory reforms across multiple markets are presenting new requirements to comply with, creating an even more complex landscape for multinationals.

Above all of this are prospective tax changes in the UK, Ireland and Brazil, building on already substantial tax burdens in places like Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.

The past few years have been tricky for Entain, with non-US markets struggling in quarterly reports during 2023 in particular. A rebound began in 2024, and it seems that the firm has been able to maintain the momentum.

“Entain’s Q3 trading shows steady delivery in an increasingly difficult macro environment as consumer spending remains constrained across key markets,” observed Russell Pointon, Director – Consumer at investment research firm Edison Group.

“Against that backdrop, mid-single-digit NGR gains in the non-US businesses point to operational resilience rather than acceleration, albeit there is some dampening of growth due to customer friendly sports results.

“For investors, BetMGM’s upgraded outlook is obviously encouraging. The shift to cash distributions is a positive signal, though the near-term earnings impact is modest. With guidance unchanged, the update is unlikely to alter sentiment materially. Entain’s focus on cost control and cash generation remains sound.”

As the industry moves through the opening weeks of Q4, Entain has confidence from its H1 and Q3 figures to reiterate its guidance for the end of the year, anticipating total online NGR growth of around 7%, online EBITDA of between £1.1bn-£1.15bn and an accompanying margin of between 25-26%.