Entain: new CEO Gavin Isaacs to focus on return to online gambling growth in UK and Ireland

Isaacs has made his first presentation as the group’s new CEO.

UK.-  Gavin Isaacs has provided his first strategic update after taking over as CEO of Entain. The former chair of SB Tech took the helm on September 2, stepping into a position that was left vacant by Jette Nygaard-Andersen last December. 

Isaacs highlighted a return to online growth in the UK and Ireland as a core objective as he seeks a path back to stability and shareholder value. He said a “focused execution is bearing fruit across our operational performances” following disappointing H1 results that saw UK online revenues fall by 8 per cent to £466m.

The company said it continues to make adjustments to “UK player journeys” but that early H2 trading suggests that UK and Ireland online revenue has bounced back to growth “earlier than expected” with an “accelerated recovery across gaming and sports, with sports NGR benefiting from both stronger volumes and margins”.

Meanwhile, this is an important month for Entain’s Project Romer tech projects with the BetMGM US joint venture launching a new sports betting offering with “enhanced parlay and player prop offerings powered by Angstrom”. The company has also highlighted that BetMGM is the first sports betting app to “offer Nevada bettors seamless, nationwide connectivity through a single digital wallet”.

In other markets, Isaacs said the combination of SuperSport and STS Group was boosting performance beyond expectations.

Stella David, who was acting as interim CEO, will continue to work alongside Isaacs until she moves to the chairman position when Barry Gibson departs on September 30.