Flutter Entertainment has reported a strong first half with revenue growth driven by increased average monthly players.

For the six months to June 30, revenue was up 99% at GBP3.05 billion from GBP1.54 billion in the prior year and pretax profit more than tripled to GBP77 million from GBP24 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – excluding the US business – doubled to GBP684 million from GBP339 million.

Group revenue was up 30% for the first six months to £3.1bn, while revenue at Flutter’s US FanDuel business grew by 159% to £652 million. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to £597 million on a pro-forma basis. That included an EBITDA loss in the United States.

“The first half of 2021 exceeded our expectations as we made substantial progress against our operational and strategic objectives while maintaining excellent momentum in growing our player base,” said Peter Jackson, Chief Executive of Flutter Entertainment.

“Our global sports businesses benefitted from further enhancements to our products and the return to more normalised sporting calendars while we sustained our strong performance in gaming despite the challenging comparatives set last year,” he added.

Gavin Kelleher, gaming & leisure analyst at Goodbody commented: “Flutter has seen phenomenal user growth over the last 12 months, with average monthly players rising 40% year on year. This is extremely impressive and should underpin strong growth across the group in the medium term. While its US business continues to see short term losses, revenue growth demonstrates a clear path to profitability, and is a signal of the positive things to come for the company in the near future.”