REG - Entain PLC - Statement re increases to UK gambling taxes

EntainAnnouncement

26/11/2025 18:00

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RNS Number : 1688J  Entain PLC  26 November 2025

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIES AS INSIDE INFORMATION

 

26 November 2025

Entain plc

("Entain" or the "Group")

 

Statement regarding announced increases to UK gambling taxes

 

Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the global sports betting and gaming group,
acknowledges the UK Government's Budget statement and is disappointed by the
increases to UK gambling taxes.

Aligned with the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), Entain strongly believes
that maintaining well-balanced regulatory frameworks alongside proportionate
tax regimes are critical to protecting customers and supporting the sector.

Today's announced tax changes fail to deliver this balance and will see
regulated operators limited to providing a less attractive and lower quality
customer offering compared to the unlicensed and untaxed black market.

These disproportionate tax increases will have a detrimental impact on the
economic contribution of the gambling industry, put jobs at risk, reduce
funding for sports, and benefit the black market.

As a result of today's announced changes to UK rates of Remote Gaming Duty(1)
and General Betting Duty(2,3), Entain estimates an annualised additional cost
to our UK&I Online business of approximately £200m(4), before any
mitigations.

Given the quantum of the tax increases, Entain expects to mitigate
approximately 25% of this impact through actions including reducing marketing
and promotions, commencing immediately alongside the implementation of the tax
changes. Therefore, consistent with the dates of proposed implementation, this
equates to an EBITDA impact(4) of approximately £100m in 2026 (8% of
consensus FY26 EBITDA(5)) and approximately £150m from 2027. In addition, as
a high-quality scale operator, Entain anticipates benefiting from capturing
market share as others are now forced to exit the UK market.

As the business works hard to digest and mitigate these additional taxes, we
remain focused on delivering our strategic priorities. Entain's globally
scaled and geographically diverse portfolio of leading positions in attractive
markets, sees the Group well positioned to absorb such regulatory and tax
changes whilst continuing to deliver sustainable growth.

Stella David, CEO of Entain, commented:

"We are deeply disappointed by today's decision to punitively increase UK
gambling taxes, putting at risk an industry which already contributes £7
billion annually to the UK economy and supports over 100,000 jobs across the
country.

Disproportionately increasing gambling taxes will not only have a detrimental
impact on our industry but also heightens the risk for customers. As seen in
other countries, punitive tax increases often lead to lower tax revenues
overall, whilst also driving players to illegal, unregulated operators with no
player protections. The Government must now urgently tackle the black market
and the consequences of today's decision.

Entain remains well positioned to deliver sustainable growth, underpinned by
the Group's diverse geographic footprint and strong portfolio of leading
positions in attractive markets."

Notes

(1)   Remote gaming duty (RGD) - charged on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) from
remote gaming less certain allowable bonus deductions. Remote gaming includes
online offerings of casino games, bingo and poker. Remote Gaming Duty will
increase from 21% to 40% from April 2026

(2)   General betting duty (GBD) - charged on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for
'general bets', which include sports betting and bets on horse or dog racing,
and profits for spread bets, but exclude on-course betting.

(3)   A new Remote Betting Rate (RBR) at 25% within GBD will be introduced
from April 2027. Remote Betting Rate will apply to online offerings of sports
betting, but excluding horserace betting and Self-Service Betting Terminals

(4)   Based on internal estimates for FY25 UK&I Online Revenue

(5)   Company compiled consensus FY26 EBITDA of £1220m, as at 25 November
2025

 

 UK Gambling tax rates        Pre-April 2026  April 2026 - April 2027  Post-April 2027
 Online Gaming                21%             40%                      40%
 Retail Gaming                20%             20%                      20%
 Online Sports                15%             15%                      25%

  (exc. horserace betting)
 Retail Sports                15%             15%                      15%

  (exc. horserace betting)
 Horserace betting            15% + 10% Levy  15% + 10% Levy           15% + 10% Levy

 

 

This announcement contains information that qualifies or may qualify as inside
information within the meaning of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of English law by virtue of the European
Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person responsible for releasing this
announcement on behalf of Entain is Simon Zinger, Group General Counsel.

Upon the publication of this announcement via a regulatory information
service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Enquiries:

 Investor Relations - Entain plc        investors@entaingroup.com (mailto:investors@entaingroup.com)
 Media - Entain plc                     media@entaingroup.com (mailto:media@entaingroup.com)
 Sodali & Co                            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446

 Rob Greening/Russ Lynch/Sam Austrums   entain@sodali.com (mailto:entain@sodali.com)

Forward-looking statements

This document contains certain statements that are forward-looking statements.
They appear in a number of places throughout this document and include
statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations and those
of our officers, Directors and employees concerning, amongst other things,
results of our operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth,
strategies and the business we operate. These forward-looking statements
include all matters that are not historical facts. By their nature, these
statements involve risks and uncertainties since future events and
circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from
those anticipated. Any such forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and
information available at the date of preparation of this document. Other than
in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the
Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014) as it forms part of English law by virtue
of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the UK Listing Rules, the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the Prospectus Rules), the
Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking
statements. Nothing in this document should be construed as a profit forecast.
The Company and its Directors accept no liability to third parties in respect
of this document save as would arise under English law.

About Entain plc

Entain plc (LSE: ENT) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world's largest
sports betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail
sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports
brands include BetCity, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds,
Sportingbet, Sports Interaction, STS and SuperSport; Gaming brands include
Foxy Bingo, Gala, GiocoDigitale, Ninja Casino, Optibet, Partypoker and
PartyCasino. The Group operates the TAB NZ brand as part of a long-term
strategic partnership with TAB New Zealand. The Group owns proprietary
technology across all its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C
operations, provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B
basis.

The Group has a 50/50 joint venture, BetMGM, a leader in sports betting and
iGaming in the US. Entain provides the technology and capabilities which power
BetMGM as well as exclusive games and products, specially developed at its
in-house gaming studios. The Group is tax resident in the UK and is the only
global operator to exclusively operate in domestically regulated or regulating
markets operating in over 30 territories.

Entain is a leader in ESG, a member of FTSE4Good, the DJSI and is AAA rated by
MSCI. For more information see the Group's website: www.entaingroup.com
(http://www.entaingroup.com/) .

LEI: 213800GNI3K45LQR8L28

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