Bookie wins big in US as it shrugs off inflation woe

THE owner of Paddy Power and Betfair said punters were still putting on plenty of bets despite the cost of living crisis hitting household finance.

Shares in the gambling giant Flutter climbed 5.1pc, or 426p, to 8716p after its quarterly revenues rose 6pc to £1.6bn.

The business enjoyed an ‘exciting quarter’ in the US, said chief executive Peter Jackson, with revenues up 45pc from £288m in the first three months of last year to £429m this time around.

This was driven by FanDuel, which raked in more than 1.3m new customers. US revenue helped it drum up a 15pc rise in average monthly players to 8.9m worldwide. But closer to home there was concern.

Flutter’s UK and Ireland revenues for the first three months of the year were down 8pc to £519m.

And online revenues for the region fell 20pc compared with a year earlier.

Jackson said Flutter was not seeing signs of an impact from the cost of living crisis, but added: ‘There’s no doubt cost of living will impact expenditure.’

Flutter has already prepared for safer gambling measures due to come in across the UK, which has cost it £30m over the past year.

Following its update, analysts at Peel Hunt said the business is ‘materially undervalued’.

Flutter was among companies rocked by a shareholder revolt over fat cat pay last week, when a third of investors who voted at the annual meeting opposed executive pay after Jackson got a 26pc rise in pay to £1.17m.

Rival 888 fell 1.7pc, or 3.3p, to 190.6p while Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain dipped 2.5pc, or 37.5p, to 1455p. The FTSE 100 fell 0.9pc, or 67.88 points, to 7493.45 while the FTSE 250 slid 1.5pc, or 301.28 points, to 20219.48.

Shares in the blue-chip retailer Kingfisher plunged 5pc, or 12.7p, to 241.6p as investor fears swept across the high street sector following Boohoo’s poor results.

The impact was also felt by FTSE 100-listed JD Sports, which fell 4.7pc, or 6.35p, to 128.5p.

Mining stocks suffered analyst downgrades amid concerns about iron ore production. Anglo American saw its rating lowered to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, which sent its shares down 2pc, or 72.5p, to 3507.5p.

And Rio Tinto shares fell 2.7pc, or 153p, to 5492p, after it was downgraded to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’.

In the second-tier, Direct Line fell 6.3pc, or 16p, to 239.5p. The insurer saw a 2.4pc decline in its premiums to £734m during the first three months of the year.

Motor premiums, which fell 5pc, started to climb again in April.

Home premiums also slid 10pc during the first quarter while commercial lines rose 12pc. Shares in rival Admiral Group also fell – by 2.7pc, or 68p, to 2493p. Chemicals company Johnson Matthey climbed 3.7pc, or 82p, to 2307p after analysts at Jefferies upgraded its stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

UK textile services provider Johnson Service Group shot up 9.2pc, or 9.6p, to 113.8p after firstquarter revenues for 2022 rose more than 3pc compared with a year earlier. It supplies businesses, including Morrisons and Fuller’s, with linen and workwear.

And the UK’s largest distributor of newspapers and magazines, Smiths News, rose 4.8p, or 1.65p, to 36.3p despite interim revenues sliding to £544.8m – down 1.2pc compared with a year earlier.

Across the Atlantic, San Francisco transport company Lyft dived 33pc after weaker-thanexpected forecast earnings.

Meanwhile, the world’s second largest cinema chain is attempting to renegotiate delaying final payments to shareholders in its US Regal business.

Cineworld now wants a further extension until the end of June. It fell 3.9pc, or 1.18p, to 29.05p.