The World Cup helped drive a record fourth quarter for betting company Entain. Gaming revenue jumped 11% in the period as punters turned to their betting apps during the unusual winter football competition. 

Entain now expects its core profit for the year to be between 985 million pounds and 995 million pounds ($1.21 billion-$1.23 billion), up from an earlier forecast of between 925 million pounds and 975 million pounds.

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Entain’s CEO, commented: “2022 has been another year of strong financial, operational and strategic progress for Entain. We have continued to grow our revenues in a sustainable and diversified way by expanding our global footprint, broadening our customer appeal, entering new areas of entertainment, and providing a safe environment for our customers. All of this has led to a record number of active customers in Q4, as well as a full year EBITDA performance ahead of our previous expectations.

We have started 2023 with good momentum across the business and remain confident in our ability to continue delivering on our growth and sustainability strategy in the year ahead.”