The Perfect Scratch

About The Perfect Scratch

He said Cirsa wass already a well-managed company and in previous deals, it had tried to make too many changes to an asset. “First of all, in many cases you had M&A which was of assets that were second tier. The promise was to completely change the nature and the competitive position of the asset, in many cases, a turnaround.

“In this case, it’s a completely different situation. You have a group, not a single company in a single country, a group which has been a solid group for 10 years and delivering. There’s no turnaround to be made. It’s already very well managed. It’s number one in its markets.”

The combined company will be listed on stock exchanges in both Spain and Italy, which Cirsa and Lottomatica are already market leaders in.Italy accounted for 57% of a combined group pro format adjusted EBITDA in H1. Spain made up 23% of that figure, with Rest of World at 20%.

How to play The Perfect Scratch

Its share price decline began after reaching an all-time high in September 2021. Over the course of five years it has slipped 73% to 530p.

It has been a challenging few years for Entain, having cycled through four CEOs in short succession. In November 2023 Entain agreed to pay a financial penalty totalling £585 million, plus a £20 million charitable donation and £10 million in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and HMRC costs. This related to a bribery case initiated by the CPS into the company’s historic operations in Turkey.

Troubles continued as it faced declining growth within its digital business. Reports of failed integrations amid a frenzy of acquisitions further dampened Entain’s reputation and the operator subsequently committed to a major turnaround effort to cut costs and return its digital business to growth.

How to play The Perfect Scratch

The only market to report a loss for B2B during the period was the UK, down 8% to €59 million. Playtech said the market was impacted by “certain customer-specific changes and increased Remote Gaming Duty”.

Europe, excluding the UK, grew 2%. Overall, regulated revenue for B2B accounted for 83% of overall revenue across the segment, marking 21% growth, compared to unregulated.

Speaking during the follow-up analyst call, Playtech CEO Mor Weizer said regulated revenue would continue to grow, although the company would “continue to support those markets that we believe over time will become regulated”.