Entain chief executive Stella David told analysts on the third-quarter call that Brazil's regulated market will reopen after the temporary ban. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva imposed an immediate prohibition on licensed gambling at the end of September by decree; Sportingbet was caught by it. The measure runs for 120 days, after which congress must confirm, amend or strike it down. The decision sits with congress. The Supreme Federal Court has already been asked to review the ban, on the grounds that thousands of employees have lost their jobs.
David said the base case for the company is a return in some form or another. The group is preparing several scenarios and promises a cautious restart with restrained investment. Brazilian NGR fell 36% in the third quarter on soft marketing even before the 25 September ban. In the first half, NGR in the country was down 25% on a constant-currency basis. Sportingbet is mostly sport, about 70% of revenue, so Entain says it is ready even for a betting-only regime or an advertising ban. For affiliates that means offers on hold, with the return dependent on the shape of regulation. Entain kept its full-year EBITDA guidance at the low end of £910 million to £960 million, and expects online NGR growth of 5-7% in FY26 excluding Brazil at the top end.
UK & Ireland revenue offset Brazil. Online NGR there rose 14% on a 15% increase in volumes, despite unfavourable sports results, beating expectations. Group NGR was up 2%, online NGR up 3% and up 5% excluding Brazil. The gains came from the Ladbrokes app refresh and product improvements at Coral and Ladbrokes flagged by external benchmarking.
A separate risk is the British retail tax. In the autumn budget, the MGD duty on gaming machines could double to 40% after a proposal from the Social Market Foundation. David warned that an increase would speed up betting shop closures and job losses, so the Treasury would end up collecting less. The industry has already closed 630 shops over the past year. An independent estimate puts the damage at about 1,500 closures and some 16,000 jobs if the tax rises. Entain calls itself the strongest retail operator and expects to gain share as the market reshuffles.
