Entain and 888 warnings highlight continued impact of regulatory headwinds

Safer gambling reforms and stricter regulation continue to have a major impact on operators judged by the unscheduled trading updates released by Entain and 888 last week.

They were not the only reasons for the warnings announced to the City by the two companies, with sports results favourable to punters also having an effect on their figures. But both groups noted the ongoing effect of regulatory headwinds in their announcements, which were followed by steep falls in their share prices.

Entain's announcement included a revenue warning, but did not go as far as a profit warning. The parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral said it still expected full-year Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) to be in the range of £1 billion-£1.05bn, "supported by robust operational controls".