Flutter chief executive issues warning over 'unwarranted' affordability checks

The chief executive of gambling industry giant Flutter Entertainment has warned that "hundreds of thousands" of customers could face intrusive affordability checks if care is not taken over the UK government's gambling review white paper.

Peter Jackson also said concerns remained over the performance of British horseracing as the parent company of Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet unveiled its annual results for 2022.

The wait goes on for the government's gambling review white paper which is expected to contain proposals on the controversial subject of affordability checks on punters.

Jackson noted recent comments made by the then-gambling minister Paul Scully who said it was not for the government or for the Gambling Commission to dictate how people could spend their own money.

"I think we need to be very thoughtful when it comes down to the rumoured proposals," Jackson added. "We think that there could be hundreds of thousands of customers facing intrusive unwarranted checks so we just need to be really careful about it. We think the balance that we have between the monitoring and the controls we have in our business works very well.

"It is important to recognise that while spend is clearly an important component in assessing risk, when we look at our algorithms for tracking and monitoring our customers we are looking at 340 different bits of data including things like the time that people are spending on the site, change in product use, bet frequency – all those types of components."

Publication of the gambling review white paper has been postponed on numerous occasions, with the latest delay caused by last month's cabinet reshuffle.

Rishi Sunak: gambling review said to be a priority for prime ministerCredit: Daniel Leal

New culture secretary Lucy Frazer told a parliamentary event held by campaigning charity Gambling With Lives on Wednesday that the review was an "absolute priority" for her and prime minister Rishi Sunak and that the white paper would be published soon, although she warned: "I do want to give these issues justice and take some time to make sure that I do meet with you and others to really understand the issues."

Jackson said on Thursday he hoped the white paper would be published soon, adding: "We have been taking a lot of action and I think it is important that a number of the other operators in the industry follow suit because I think it is the right thing to do for the sector. We strongly encourage the government to push forward and publish the white paper so we can move on with it."

In November Jackson told the Racing Post the performance of British horseracing had been "a little bit soft", and he reiterated those worries.

"We continue to be somewhat concerned [about racing]," he said. "There has been continued reduction in field sizes. There has been a drop in audience participation and engagement.

"We are worried when we look at some of the trends in comparison with last year and 2019 for example which are both relatively clean non-Covid years. We are engaging with the authorities to try and help them improve and make the business more sustainable."

Jackson hailed a "strong performance" in 2022 as group revenue rose 27 per cent year-on-year on an adjusted basis at nearly £7.7 billion, while adjusted underlying earnings were up four per cent at nearly £1.05bn. Adjusted profit after tax fell 26 per cent to £336 million.

World Cup was "an expensive event" for FlutterCredit: Julian Finney

The men's football World Cup in Qatar helped drive a 26 per cent increase in average monthly players, although the tournament contributed to a near £40m impact from punter-friendly results for the group outside the US in December.

"The sports results went against us," Jackson said. "While the World Cup final was a real spectacle to watch and very entertaining, I was watching it through my fingers because it was a very expensive event for us. It was compounded when the Premier League came back and we saw a flurry of the favourites winning. That cost us a lot of money at the back end of last year."

Jackson said Flutter was "winning" in the US, where its FanDuel brand reached a 50 per cent share of the online sports betting market in the fourth quarter. Revenue in the US grew 67 per cent to £2.6bn, while the loss in underlying earnings reduced by six per cent to £250m.

Analysts at stockbrokers Davy said the standout feature of Flutter's results was the "stellar performance" of the company's US arm, adding: "With good momentum in a number of its key divisions, the benefit of global diversification and scale and an increasingly recreational player base, the future is bright."

Flutter shares were down 3.63 per cent at 13,000p on Thursday afternoon.

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