Within a month of Gavin Isaacs being named the new CEO of Entain, the company has raised its cash-flow guidance by two percent. Jefferies Equity Research analyst James Wheatcroft welcomed both Isaacs and the fiscal news in an October 17 investor note.
Entain’s cash-flow guidance has been elevated from the midpoint of the previously announced range to its upper end. Wheatcroft said this was presaged by positive commentary from Entain during an investor update last month.
Wheatcroft reported that Entain’s online growth has accelerated to nine percent, particularly marked by a speedup in both United Kingdom and Ireland online business. Also cited was continued strength in Brazil, where Entain’s business grew 48 percent. “All key markets [are] returning to growth,” Wheatcroft added.
“We await the new CEO’s formal update around strategic direction and operating initiatives which could have the scope to move numbers and the valuation multiple,” he continued.
Wheatcroft concluded by noting that recent discussion of the profitability of BetMGM, of which Entain is a co-parent, “is at odds with an Entain valuation that appears to attach little value to Entain’s BetMGM stake.” Allowing for BetMGM, Wheatcroft said that a sum of the parts approach to Entain implied a £13 per share value.
