Paddy Power Betfair To Rename To Flutter Entertainment?

Finding a name with great potential to attract consumers and make them stick to a brand is quite a challenging task. Perhaps that’s the reason Paddy Power Betfair officials are brainstorming these days to consider whether to or not to change their name to Flutter Entertainment. Or could there be some other reasons for that?

New Name To Better Represent The Brand

The bookmaker regards this idea as a smart move which would reflect “the increased diversity of our brands our brands and operators.” The change will take place only if shareholders give their consent.

On the other hand, Peter Jackson, the CE at Paddy Power says that “there are no plans to use this historical name for consumers.”

Perhaps these conflicting announcements exist because the high management is still undecided on whether this change will bring significant changes or not. Rebranding a company certainly is…

…a complex process which definitely requires plenty of careful planning.

Paddy Power on Revenue Fluctuations

These are very difficult times for the company, as they had…

…many ups and downs regarding financial aspects last year.

The revenue was up 9% (from £1.75bn to 1.87bn), whereas a drop was noticed in pre-tax profit. Speaking in numbers, it went down by 11% - from £247m to £219m.

As for earning streams, the group points out that sustainability in earnings is something they have been committed to ever since. They also added that the current year had so far matched expectations.

According to results, their profits across 626 betting shops all over the UK and Ireland fell by 1%. In addition to this, underlying earnings dropped 19% to £ 51m. Nevertheless, the rise has been noticed in online revenues, as they went up 11% compared with 2017 when it was only 1%.

FOBT Affects Bookmakers

If there is something to place the blame on when it comes to the group's financial troubles, it's the controversial new rulings regarding FOBTs.

The company points out that controversial FOBTs (fixed-odds betting terminals) won’t have any material impact on its sports-led retail strategy, even though they are supposed to come into effect soon.

On the other hand, not all venues have the same turnaround which is why they DO blame it all on the new FOBT rules. One of the most influential brands in the industry, William Hill, reported a loss of £720m for last year. Moreover, similar complaints came from Ladbrokes, warning that regulatory changes could force them to close up to 1000 betting shops.

Source:

“Paddy Power Betfair wants to change its name to Flutter Entertainment”, independent.co.uk, March 6, 2019.