Flutter Entertainment plc

Good afternoon and welcome to the Flutter Q2 results call hosted by CEO Peter Jackson and CFO Rob Koldrake. There will be a chance to ask questions later, but I will now hand the call over to Paul Thames, Group Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Hi, everyone, and welcome to Flutter's Q2 results call. With me this afternoon in New York are Flutter CEO Peter Jackson and CFO Rob Koldrake. To this short intro, Peter will open up with a brief summary of our operational progress during the quarter. and then Rob will run through the Q2 financials and updated 2024 guidance. He will then open up the lines for Q&A. Some of the information we are providing today, including our 2024 guidance, constitutes forward-looking statements that involves risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors are detailed in our earnings press release of our SEC filings. In addition, all forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement except as required by law. Also, in our remarks or responses to questions, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations are included in the results materials we have released today, available in the Investors section of our website. And I will now hand you over to Peter.

Thank you, Paul. I'm delighted to be joining you today from New York, the home of our new operational headquarters, following our primary listing move back in May. With me is Rob Coldrick, Flutter CFO. This is obviously Rob's first call since he started as CFO on May 31st. It certainly hit the ground running, given his experience within the group, and I know he's looking forward to meeting you all in due course. It's also appropriate to acknowledge that in recent weeks, one of the group's founders, David Power, passed away. He was a longstanding supporter of this business and a great sounding board for me, a generation of Flutter leaders. May he rest in peace. I'll now turn business in Q2. It was a very strong quarter for the group and ahead of market expectations. We delivered amp growth of 17% and revenue growth of 20%, reflecting excellent execution against our strategic priorities and positive sports results. We have outperformed in our major markets, US sports and our gaming, the UK, Ireland and Italy, providing great momentum for the second half of the year. In the US, Fangio had an exceptional quarter, with nearly 40% share of the entire U.S. sports betting and iGaming market. Our market-leading products, underpinned by the Flutter Edge, and continued disciplined customer acquisition investments are driving our performance in the market. The improvements we delivered in our NBA, WNBA, and MLB products are increasing parlay penetration, driving up our structural hold, and player retention rates, resulting in continuing strong returns on player acquisition investments. In the quarter, both amps and new players increased by over 30% for Sportsbook and iGaming compared to the prior year. This reflects a strong start in North Carolina, where we have 59% of the market and 20% growth in new players from pre-2022 states. These excellent KPIs point to a long runway of growth in these states and the market more broadly. They also vindicate the consistent posture we've taken since the market launched by investing behind Fangio's excellent return on customer acquisition. In iGaming, we completed an important milestone with the migration of Banfield Casino onto our proprietary technology. In time, this will unlock important benefits through access to in-house content, promotional capabilities, and also greater platform stability. This, combined with the launch of more exclusive titles and promotional features in the quarter, are further evidence of the fantastic roadmap of improvements we still have for our iGaming players. Outside of the US, The group's scale and diversification contributed to AMP revenue growth of 15% and 10% respectively. The Euros is the marquee event of the quarter, with our UKI and Italian businesses delivering same-game parlay product improvements for players in advance of the tournament. TESAL is the first operator to offer same-game parlay in Italy, proof of the benefits of Flutter's Edge when it comes to delivering compelling product advantages for our brands in their local markets. CESAO's same-game parlay accounted for nearly 20% of stakes on the Euros and helped deliver a record market share performance for CESAO in the quarter. This encapsulates a strong performance in CESAO since acquisition, where on a pro forma basis over the last two years, amps have increased by 60% and revenue by 37%. In the UK and Ireland, all our brands are delivering excellent growth, combining for a 10th straight quarter of market share gains based on gambling commission data. In iGaming, we leveraged the Paddy Power brand in launching Paddy's Match and Heist, our most successful live casino game launch ever. In Australia, the previously noted and anticipated declines in the racing market were evident in the quarter. However, we saw strong customer engagement around marquee rugby events, where player acquisitions doubled year on year. Overall, the group had a very strong quarter, strengthening our leadership position in the US and delivering excellent momentum in our diversified ex-US business. And with that, I hand you over to Rob.