Flutter group CFO steps down as gambling group shifts primary listing to US

From today, the New York Stock Exchange is the primary listing market for shares in the owner of Paddy Power.

Flutter is the world’s biggest online gambling group.

The board of Flutter, which also owns the US-based FanDuel business, concluded that it was in the company’s “best interests” for Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson to step down as group CFO. He was appointed CFO in 2022, joining from Intercontinental Hotels.

He has been succeeded by Rob Coldrake. He has been chief financial officer of Flutter International, a role he held since joining Flutter in 2020. He previously spent 14 years with TUI Travel in a variety of roles.

“In anticipation of the company’s US primary listing on 31st May 2024 and the consequent need for extensive executive management time to be spent in the United States, the board has recently engaged in a discussion with Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson concerning his ability to meet that requirement in light of his family commitments in the UK,” Flutter said in a statement.

It added: “Following this discussion, the board has concluded that it is in the company’s best interests for Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson to step down from his role as group CFO and executive director.”

Mr Edgecliffe-Johnson played a key role in navigating Flutter towards its US primary listing. Its shares started trading in New York at the end of January. The group had already signalled that it intended to move its primary listing from London to New York. Its shares have been delisted from the Dublin market.

Flutter has moved its primary listing to the US to increase its exposure to investors there as its FanDuel unit moves into profitability and increasingly becomes the single biggest part of the group’s business in terms of revenue.

“Today marks an important milestone in the evolution of Flutter with the commencement of our primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange,” said Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson on Friday.

This closely follows the recent move of our operational headquarters to New York, with both reflecting the increasing importance of the US sports betting and iGaming market to our business, he said.”

“We have a fantastic position in the US, with FanDuel the clear number one operator, and we look forward to this next step on our journey,” Mr Jackson added.

Earlier this month, Flutter reported that its FanDuel division currently has a 52pc share of net gaming revenue in the US, while its FanDuel Casino arm is the number one online gaming brand.

It had nearly 3.4 million average monthly players in the US in the first quarter of this year, which was up 15pc year-on-year.

Its US revenue jumped 32pc in the first quarter to $1.4bn and it made adjusted earnings before profit, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $26m, compared with a $53m loss in the first three months of 2023.

Flutter generated revenue of $11.8bn last year and posted further adjusted ebitda of $1.87bn.