Entain has announced that it expects its group EBITDA to reach the top end of its guidance range for the full financial year.

The Isle of Man-headquartered betting and gambling firm, which is listed on the FTSE 100 and owns brands including Coral and Ladbrokes, stated that following "operator friendly sports results in Q4", its EBITDA is set to reach the top end of its guidance, which ranges between £1.04bn-£1.09bn.

This is in line with the group’s Q3 results, where this expectation was set out.

The Independent has reported that as a result, Entain's share price increased by up to 9% in early trading.

However, its joint venture with US firm, BetMGM, is set to report an EBITDA loss of around $250m (£205.9m).

Despite this result, the firm said that this was "consistent" with its expectations, with 2024 being an investment year.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, stated that Entain has "dodged a bullet" over the past few months, adding that the market had "started to worry" that it would suffer the same fate as Flutter.

He concluded: "Rather than deliver the bad news investors had expected, Entain also said its group earnings would be at the top of previous guidance. That took the market by surprise and triggered a surge in the share price.

"Investors will be keen to know how it has managed to achieve this result, but they’ll have to wait as the trading update is short on detail. BetMGM updates on 4 February and Entain reports on 6 March, the latter is expected to contain an update on the group’s strategy under its new chief executive, Gavin Isaacs, who is under pressure to get the business back on top after a troublesome few years.

"Entain might have scored the winning goal in recent months, but its share price has more than halved since 2021 which implies something drastic needs to be done to revive its fortunes and win back the market’s favour. Today’s trading update is a good start, but the market will need more good news rather than a stroke of luck."

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