For all the Naysayers: ENTAINS NGR up 18% in NZ.

[Chief Stipe]

Australia drags on Entain’s international growth, New Zealand surges onhttps://bitofayarn.com

 

As Entain’s online net gaming revenue grew 18 per cent in New Zealand over the past 12 months, it also fell 7 per cent in Australia. Managing those contrasting situations presents an interesting challenge for interim Entain Australia and New Zealand chief executive Andrew Vouris, writes Bren O'Brien.

At the peak of the pandemic-driven wagering boom five years ago, Entain confirmed that net gaming revenue (NGR) from its Australian business had grown 43 per cent year-over-year across the first six months of 2020.

Retail closures had created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for market growth and the continuation of horse racing despite lockdowns had Ladbrokes and Neds front and centre of that growth. Entain felt it was well positioned to capitalise on that sudden surge of customer engagement.

In mid-2022, Entain, then embarking on a bold expansion of its business in the United States and other international markets, confirmed in its six-monthly update that 14 per cent of its online net gaming revenue was being sourced out of Australia.

Since then, as the Australian wagering bubble burst, the Australian share of overall net gaming revenue has been on the decline. By mid-2023, it was 11 per cent, then 10 per cent in mid-2024. In the mid-2025 report published this week, Australia’s NGR share across Entain’s online business had dropped to 8 per cent of its global business.

 

Entain did not give that a precise Australian NGR number – the Australian business warranted only a couple of mentions in an hour-long investor update call on Tuesday.

The overall global online NGR was posted at £1.9 billion ($A3.93 billion).

Revenue by destination reported showed that for the six months up until June 30, revenue across Australia and New Zealand had fallen to £257.1 million ($A530 million), down £24.1 million ($A50 million) compared to the same period last year.

The other detail to come out of the half-yearly report was that Australian NGR had fallen 7 per cent year-on-year, while New Zealand’s has increased 12 per cent.

The Australian market was described by chief financial officer Rob Wood as continuing to be soft and “impacted by less favourable horse racing results”. https://bitofayarn.com

That’s a familiar line, with the profitability of racing punters becoming more and more marginal for the major bookmakers. It should be a concern for any Australian racing administrator, especially given how much Ladbrokes and Neds have invested in racing through sponsorship and other initiatives over the past five years.  

The sentiment around New Zealand was understandably more positive. Online NGR grew by 18 per cent, while retail sales have shrunk by 8 per cent. That change in market dynamics is a measure of a maturing New Zealand wagering landscape, one which Entain now has a virtual monopoly on through its TAB and Betcha brands.  

New Zealand now represents 3 per cent of Entain’s global online NGR, just under 40 per cent of what a much more mature Australian business contributed.

“Whilst the legislative net arrived later than expected, it is now effective and should therefore catalyse even greater growth in H2,” Wood said.

There is the one-off impact of a $NZ100 million payment as part of the agreement to provide the legislative net, but that is seen as a short-term pain for significant long-term gain in a contract set to run until 2048.

The other significant aspect from an Australian point of view in the half-year result was the provision of £50 million, over $A100 million, in the accounts, for the potential fine from AUSTRAC over its enforcement action.

Entain chief executive Stella David was at pains to stress this was only an accounting measure and not a guide as to what a potential penalty may be.

Pierre Bouchut appointed chair as Entain reports growth

“That provision is purely accounting-driven, and there is no certainty that the quantum reflects what might be a potential penalty.  We are currently in early-stage mediation, and there is no further update until those discussions have concluded,” she said.

Given speculation that the AUSTRAC fine could be three or four times that provision, a $100 million fine would be seen as a reasonable result for Entain, which reported a global EBITDA figure of £583 million ($A1.2 billion) across the first half of 2025 and a market cap of close to £6 billion ($12.4 billion).  

It has been clear from the recent appointment of Andrew Vouris as Entain Australia and New Zealand chief executive, replacing Dean Sahnnon, that there is a change of mentality in the Australasian business. To quote the new boss himself.

“I want us to win, yes, but not at all costs,” Vouris said.

An outcome of the AUSTRAC process is expected in the next six months, and there is no doubt that will be seen as a crucial inflection point for the future of Entain’s Australian ambitions.

Australia is one of only three countries where Entain didn’t grow online NGR  in the first half of 2025, along with two other highly regulated jurisdictions, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Broader wagering trends have played a part in that, but so too have challenges faced by the Ladbrokes and Neds Australian businesses.

If Entain can put the AUSTRAC action behind it, then Vouris’ challenge in 2026 will be to return Australia to growth and continue New Zealand's upward trajectory.

[curious]

Header should read 12% I think?

The other detail to come out of the half-yearly report was that Australian NGR had fallen 7 per cent year-on-year, while New Zealand’s has increased 12 per cent.

Edited Wednesday at 05:01 AM by curious

[Chief Stipe]

36 minutes ago, curious said:

Header should read 12% I think?

The other detail to come out of the half-yearly report was that Australian NGR had fallen 7 per cent year-on-year, while New Zealand’s has increased 12 per cent.

Online 18%.  Retail dragged it down to 12.

[curious]

4 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Online 18%.  Retail dragged it down to 12.

Long way to go. Have to see what the online monopoly does I guess?

[Chief Stipe]

45 minutes ago, curious said:

Long way to go. Have to see what the online monopoly does I guess?

At least it is up not down.

[curious]

3 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

At least it is up not down.

👍

[Newmarket]

So hang on…. lets get the facts on this. Betcha has only been going in NZ  for about 1 yr, so before that figure was zero? Retail??? Betcha all online??

Me thinks we are talking about casino gambling here….
 

 

[curious]

45 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

So hang on…. lets get the facts on this. Betcha has only been going in NZ  for about 1 yr, so before that figure was zero? Retail??? Betcha all online??

Me thinks we are talking about casino gambling here….
 

 

What figure? And what does casino gambling have to do with it? You mean Entain's global bottom line?

[Newmarket]

30 minutes ago, curious said:

What figure? And what does casino gambling have to do with it? You mean Entain's global bottom line?

On what product was Entain up 18% in NZ the last 12 months? 

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

On what product was Entain up 18% in NZ the last 12 months? 

NGR

[curious]

3 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

On what product was Entain up 18% in NZ the last 12 months? 

Racing and sports betting. 

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Newmarket said:

So hang on…. lets get the facts on this. Betcha has only been going in NZ  for about 1 yr, so before that figure was zero? Retail??? Betcha all online??

Me thinks we are talking about casino gambling here….
 

 

They don't have a Casino license in NZ numb nuts.  You've been telling us that for months.

[Newmarket]

2 minutes ago, curious said:

Racing and sports betting. 

Ok, so Tab & Betcha figures only. 

False accounting really, Betcha only in NZ for a year, so of course there would be an increase. Wow, its gonna look bad in another 12 months.

[Chief Stipe]

10 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Ok, so Tab & Betcha figures only. 

False accounting really, Betcha only in NZ for a year, so of course there would be an increase. Wow, its gonna look bad in another 12 months.

FFS you dumb arse Betcha is an ENTAIN brand.  ENTAIN started trading in NZ 2023.  So the increase is yr 2 vs yr 1.  But you keep being the Prince of Darkness!

[Newmarket]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

FFS you dumb arse Betcha is an ENTAIN brand.  ENTAIN started trading in NZ 2023.  So the increase is yr 2 vs yr 1.  But you keep being the Prince of Darkness!

No need to keep being a rude prick…. once again your missing the obvious. 

I know NZ TAB & Betcha are run by Entain, i get that. 
But how can they come up with that figure that is up 12%. Ok, so its easy to sort TAB figures on previous 12 months, but Betcha only started around this time last year, so what figure used there? 
Hopefully somebody can post nicely, ta

[Chief Stipe]

8 hours ago, Newmarket said:

No need to keep being a rude prick…. once again your missing the obvious. 

I know NZ TAB & Betcha are run by Entain, i get that. 
But how can they come up with that figure that is up 12%. Ok, so its easy to sort TAB figures on previous 12 months, but Betcha only started around this time last year, so what figure used there? 
Hopefully somebody can post nicely, ta

I'll make it nicely simple for you.

Ma and Pa Kettle Bakery Conglomerate have one core brand.  Uncle MacGregors Wholegrain Breads and Buns.  A successful business.  One day Ma says to Pa "we are missing out on revenue from the younger generation.  Little Dolly has an idea.  Her friend @Newmarket while not the target market loves her Creamy Jammy Donuts.  Why don't we create a new brand called Dolly's Donuts 😋 🍩 ?"

So part way through the financial year Dolly's Donuts is launched.

Now the Ma and Pa Conglomerate have to report to the financial markets as they are one of the few publicly listed companies in Ekatahuna.  The main investors are the Kettle Clan and the Pots.  Ma being a Pot before marrying a Kettle - but that isn't relevant.

So to the financial reports.  Internally they measure what Dolly's doing - they monitor her closely as she tends to spend a bit.  They measure their other brands seperately too which has been going ever since 100 years ago Great Great Grandad Kettle found a flat piece of fertile land in the Hawkes Bay and started a flour mill.  A subsidiary is the Flour Mill and Farm but doesn't make much money.

They report their brands and products consolidated accounts to the markets.  

So in their latest report (they report twice yearly - the Pots are a nosey lot) they only have 6 months of Dolly's revenue but it is going so well that Dolly contributed 18% extra to the overall net revenue.  Overall retail was down mainly due to a few managers running off with the till, a couple of ram raids, a shift in demographics in some regions and a tendency to buy more online.

Overall the Ma and Pa Kettle Conglomerate Ltd had a year on year increase in net revenue.

Dolly got a new car.  The Mk2 Escort handed down from Great Uncle Randy had finally given up.  Dolly was expecting a brand new Mercedes AMG 1 but instead got a nice Suzuki Swift in the company colours of Red and Black.

It had to be explained to Dolly that although her Creamy Jammy Donuts had contributed so much to the Conglomerate revenue it was still only a part of the whole business.

So Betcha is a new brand with different products targeting a different market to the TAB.  ENTAIN reports on the consolidated accounts from both brands.  Hence the valid year on year comparison.  ENTAINS New Zealand business across all brands is up 12% net.

To make it even more nicely simpler the previous year the ENTAIN accounts only had a number of products and one brand.  The next year they had a new brand Betcha and more products.  They only reported on the consolidated.  It isn't necessary to report on each individual brand to the nosey Pots.  Since they bought the whole business they would have obtained previous years accounts and customer data against which they can do comparative reporting.

[Newmarket]

Thanks for the bakery story, especially like that you mentioned the M2 Escort, brings back memories. 
 

But really, the TAB & Betcha is still selling the same cream buns, set up different accounts and while Betcha was specifically set up for younger sports punters, they offer me far more racing offers than TAB. 
So Betcha was the Ace card, so many offers to punters, deposit match etc…. so whats gonna happen in another 12 months? 

[Chief Stipe]

22 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

So Betcha was the Ace card, so many offers to punters, deposit match etc…. so whats gonna happen in another 12 months? 

We don't know that BETCHA "was the Ace Card".  We only know that online wagering was up 18% NGR.

Who knows "whats gonna happen in another 12 months".  We do know that they have improved NGR and increased the number of active customers by 10%.  Hopefully both those trends continue.  I'm confident that they have further cost cutting on the agenda which will improve their margin and new products and systems improvements lined up.  

Afterall ENTAIN is operating in a Global Market and I'm sure any systems or product developments in their global product range will be tested and implemented in the NZ market.

Perhaps their will be an increase in NGR to offset @curious and @Newmarket not betting in NZ anymore.

[Newmarket]

Fair enough Chief, looks a pretty disappointing result for mine, especially as a couple of months no overseas punting is available for NZ punters, coupled with the excessive promos and deposit match offers…. not surprisingly the deposit match offers have dried up from both, no doubt once figures are out…. in 12 months time its gonna look bad. 
Worth noting that Entain did all out blitz in Aus too, a mate was bombarded with offers etc…. once a year or so has passed…. down the figures go…. smoke n mirrors

[curious]

35 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Perhaps their will be an increase in NGR to offset @curious and @Newmarket not betting in NZ anymore.

Not sure where you get that idea. My betting in NZ has doubled?

[Chief Stipe]

28 minutes ago, curious said:

Not sure where you get that idea. My betting in NZ has doubled?

Well there you go @Newmarket looks like ENTAIN could be heading for 50%+ growth!!  Could be even more if @Brodie is allowed to bet and has a bad run!

[Chief Stipe]

52 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Fair enough Chief, looks a pretty disappointing result for mine

12% growth in NGR disappointing?  You're a hard marker.  I know plenty of businesses who'd love to have that in today's economic climate.

54 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

in 12 months time its gonna look bad. 

We'll see in 12 months.  

54 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

once a year or so has passed…. down the figures go…. smoke n mirrors

Bonus offers are a cost or at best a discount offered to customers.  Either way they narrow the profit margin.  You can't buy customers forever.

But importantly wagering turnover was down in OZ but ENTAIN did better than most.  You'll see all providers pulling back on incentives.  Time to get your big boy pants on and stop relying on freebies to turn a profit or have less losses.

[Newmarket]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

12% growth in NGR disappointing?  You're a hard marker.  I know plenty of businesses who'd love to have that in today's economic climate.

We'll see in 12 months.  

Bonus offers are a cost or at best a discount offered to customers.  Either way they narrow the profit margin.  You can't buy customers forever.

But importantly wagering turnover was down in OZ but ENTAIN did better than most.  You'll see all providers pulling back on incentives.  Time to get your big boy pants on and stop relying on freebies to turn a profit or have less losses.

Not about putting on big boy pants….. im not a compulsive gambler, can take it or leave it. Incentives are everywhere, just not gambling, 

[Brodie]

6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well there you go @Newmarket looks like ENTAIN could be heading for 50%+ growth!!  Could be even more if @Brodie is allowed to bet and has a bad run!

Form is temporary but class is permanent as they say, Chief!

Thing is they may well think they are achieving what they desire by heavily restricting certain punters.

Reality is that it is costing them turnover and they will never be able to stop us making some sort of a profit, so why dont they let us offload??