Flutter Entertainment PLC (FLUT) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Flutter Q2 Results Call hosted by CEO, Peter Jackson; and CFO, Rob Coldrake. There will be a chance to ask questions later, but I will now hand the call over to Paul Tymms, Group Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

下午好，歡迎參加由執行長 Peter Jackson 主持的 Flutter 第二季業績電話會議；財務長羅布‧科爾德雷克 (Rob Coldrake)。稍後會有機會提問，但我現在將把電話轉給投資者關係集團總監 Paul Tymms。請繼續。

Hi, everyone and welcome to Flutter's Q2 results call. With me this afternoon in New York, are Flutter CEO, Peter Jackson; and CFO, Rob Coldrake. To this short intro, Peter will open up with a brief summary of our operational progress during the quarter and then Rob will run through the Q2 financials and our updated 2024 guidance. We will then open up the lines for Q&A.

大家好，歡迎參加 Flutter 第二季業績電話會議。今天下午和我一起在紐約的有 Flutter 執行長 Peter Jackson；財務長羅布‧科爾德雷克 (Rob Coldrake)。在這個簡短的介紹中，Peter 將首先簡要總結我們本季的營運進展，然後 Rob 將介紹第二季的財務數據和我們更新的 2024 年指引。然後我們將開放問答線路。

Some of the information we are providing today, including our 2024 guidance constitutes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors are detailed in our earnings press release and our SEC filings.

我們今天提供的一些信息，包括我們的 2024 年指導，構成前瞻性陳述，涉及風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致實際結果或結果與這些陳述中所示的結果存在重大差異。這些因素在我們的收益新聞稿和美國證券交易委員會的文件中進行了詳細說明。

In addition, all forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Also in our remarks or responses to questions, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations are included in the results materials we have released today available in the Investors section of our website.

此外，所有前瞻性陳述均基於當前預期，本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，除非法律要求。此外，在我們的評論或對問題的回答中，我們還將討論非公認會計準則財務指標。調節表包含在我們今天發布的結果資料中，可在我們網站的投資者部分找到。

And I will now hand you over to Peter.

現在我將把你交給彼得。

Thank you, Paul. I'm delighted to be joining you today from New York, the home of our new operational headquarters, following our primary listing move back in May. With me is Rob Coldrake, Flutter's CFO. This is obviously Rob's first call since he started as CFO on May 31. It certainly hit the ground running given his experience within the group and I know looking forward to meeting you all in due course.

謝謝你，保羅。我很高興今天能在紐約加入你們的行列，紐約是我們新營運總部的所在地，繼五月我們首次上市以來。和我在一起的是 Flutter 的財務長 Rob Coldrake。這顯然是 Rob 自 5 月 31 日就任財務長以來接到的第一通電話。鑑於他在團隊中的經驗，這無疑是一擊即中，我知道期待在適當的時候與你們見面。

It's also appropriate to acknowledge that in recent weeks, one of the group's founders, David Power passed away. There is a long-standing support of this business and a great training board for me, a generation of the Flutter leaders, may he rest in peace.

值得一提的是，該組織的創始人​​之一戴維·鮑爾 (David Power) 最近幾週去世了。對我這個Flutter一代領袖來說，有這個業務的長期支持和一個很棒的培訓委員會，願他安息。

I'll now turn to the performance of the business in Q2. It was a very strong quarter for the group and ahead of market expectations. We delivered AMP growth of 17% and revenue growth of 20%, reflecting excellent execution against our strategic priorities and positive sports results. We have outperformed in our major markets, US sports and iGaming, the UK, Ireland, and Italy, providing great momentum for the second half of the year.

現在我將談談第二季的業務表現。對於該集團來說，這是一個非常強勁的季度，並且超出了市場預期。我們的 AMP 成長了 17%，收入成長了 20%，這反映出我們對策略重點的出色執行和積極的體育成績。我們在美國體育和 iGaming、英國、愛爾蘭和義大利等主要市場表現出色，為下半年提供了強勁動力。

In the US, FanDuel had an exceptional quarter with nearly 40% share of the entire US sports betting and iGaming market. Our market-leading products, underpinned by the Flutter Edge and continued disciplined customer acquisition investments and driving our performance in the market. The improvements we delivered in our NBA, WNBA and MLB products are increasing pilot penetration, driving up our structural hold and player retention rates, resulting in continued strong returns on player acquisition investment.

在美國，FanDuel 的季度業績表現出色，佔據整個美國體育博彩和 iGaming 市場近 40% 的份額。我們市場領先的產品以 Flutter Edge 和持續嚴格的客戶獲取投資為支撐，推動了我們在市場上的表現。我們對 NBA、WNBA 和 MLB 產品的改進正在提高飛行員滲透率，提高我們的結構性保留率和球員保留率，從而在球員收購投資方面帶來持續強勁的回報。

In the quarter, both AMPs and new players increased by over 30% of sportsbook and iGaming compared to the prior year. This reflects the strong start in North Carolina, where we had 59% of the market and 20% growth in new players from pre-2022 states. These excellent KPIs point to a long runway of growth in these states and the market more forwardly.

本季度，體育博彩和 iGaming 的 AMP 和新玩家均比前一年增加了 30% 以上。這反映了北卡羅來納州的強勁起步，我們在那裡擁有 59% 的市場份額，並且 2022 年之前各州的新參與者增長了 20%。這些出色的關鍵績效指標顯示這些州和市場的長期成長。

They also indicated a consistent posture we've taken since the market launched by investing behind FanDuel's excellent return on customer acquisition. In iGaming, we completed an important milestone for the migration of FanDuel Casino onto our proprietary technology.

他們還表明了自市場推出以來我們一直採取的一貫立場，即透過投資 FanDuel 來獲得出色的客戶獲取回報。在 iGaming 領域，我們完成了將 FanDuel Casino 遷移到我們專有技術的重要里程碑。

In time, this will unlock important benefits through access to in-house content, promotional capabilities, and also greater platform stability. This, combined with the launch of more exclusive titles and promotional features in the quarter are further evidence of the fantastic road map of improvements we still have for iGaming players.

隨著時間的推移，這將透過存取內部內容、促銷能力以及更高的平台穩定性來釋放重要的好處。再加上本季推出的更多獨家遊戲和促銷功能，進一步證明了我們仍然為 iGaming 玩家提供了出色的改進路線圖。

Outside of the US, the group's scale and diversification contributed to AMPs and revenue growth of 15% and 10%, respectively. The euros of the marquee event of the quarter with our UKI and Italian businesses delivering same game product improvements for players in advance of the tournament. Sisal is the first operator to offer same game parlay in Italy, true for the benefits of Flutter's Edge when it comes to delivering compelling product advantages for our brands in their local markets.

在美國以外，該集團的規模和多元化分別推動了 AMP 和收入成長 15% 和 10%。本季的重大賽事歐元區，我們的 UKI 和義大利業務在比賽前為玩家提供了相同的遊戲產品改進。Sisal 是義大利第一家提供相同遊戲連贏的營運商，Flutter's Edge 的優勢確實如此，為我們的品牌在當地市場提供引人注目的產品優勢。

Sisal same game parlay accounted for nearly 20% stakes on euros and helped deliver a record market share performance for Sisal in the quarter. This encapsulates a strong performance in Sisal since acquisition, where on a pro forma basis over the last two years, AMPs have increased by 60% and revenue by 37%.

劍麻同場連贏佔歐元近20%的份額，幫助劍麻在本季創造了創紀錄的市佔率表現。這體現了 Sisal 自收購以來的強勁業績，根據過去兩年的預計，AMP 成長了 60%，營收成長了 37%。

In the UKI, all our brands are delivering excellent growth, combining for a tenth straight quarter of market share gains based on gambling commission data. In iGaming, we leverage the Paddy Power brand and launching Paddy's Mansion Heist, our most successful live casino game launch ever.

在 UKI，我們所有的品牌都實現了出色的成長，根據賭博佣金數據，市佔率連續第十個季度成長。在 iGaming 中，我們利用 Paddy Power 品牌並推出了 Paddy's Mansion Heist，這是我們有史以來推出的最成功的真人賭場遊戲。

In Australia, the previously noted and anticipated declines in the rating market were ever seen in the quarter. However, we saw strong customer engagement around marquee rugby events, where player acquisition doubled year-on-year.

在澳大利亞，本季評級市場出現了先前提到的和預期的下降。然而，我們看到大型橄欖球賽事的客戶參與度很高，球員購買量比去年同期增加了一倍。

Overall, the group had a very strong quarter, strengthening our leadership position in the US and delivering excellent momentum in our diversified ex US business.

總體而言，該集團的季度業績非常強勁，鞏固了我們在美國的領導地位，並為我們的多元化除美國業務帶來了良好的勢頭。

And with that, I'll hand you over to Rob.

這樣，我就把你交給羅布了。

Thanks, Peter. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining the call. It's a really exciting time to be settling into the CFO role and I'm delighted with the current momentum in the business.

謝謝，彼得。大家下午好。感謝您加入通話。擔任財務長的角色確實令人興奮，我對目前業務的發展勢頭感到很高興。

The group delivered a really strong performance in the quarter with revenue growth of 20% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 17% to $738 million. The group had net income of $297 million on a reported basis which is after noncash expenses, including the amortization of acquired intangibles of $147 million and a $91 million gain on the fair value of the FOX option.

該集團本季業績強勁，營收成長 20%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 17%，達到 7.38 億美元。根據報告，扣除非現金費用後，該集團的淨利潤為 2.97 億美元，其中包括 1.47 億美元收購的無形資產攤銷以及 9,100 萬美元的 FOX 選擇權公允價值收益。

Diluted earnings per share increased 290%, while adjusted earnings per share increased 56% due to the strong financial performance and the positive movement in the FOX Option. Free cash flow was $171 million versus a cash outflow of $95 million in the prior year.

由於強勁的財務業績和 FOX Option 的積極走勢，稀釋每股收益增長了 290%，調整後每股收益增長了 56%。自由現金流為 1.71 億美元，而前一年的現金流為 9,500 萬美元。

Our strong deleveraging profile saw our leverage ratio reduced to 2.6 times from 3.1 times at the end of December 2023. We are almost within our medium-term leverage target range of 2 times to 2.5 times. We look forward to updating you on our capital allocation framework and the range of capital allocation opportunities we have on our Investor Day on September 25.

我們強勁的去槓桿化措施使得我們的槓桿率從 2023 年 12 月底的 3.1 倍降至 2.6 倍。我們幾乎處於 2 倍至 2.5 倍的中期槓桿目標範圍內。我們期待在 9 月 25 日的投資者日向您通報我們的資本配置框架和資本配置機會的最新情況。

Turning now to each of the segments. In the US, the exceptional quarter noted by Peter translates to excellent financial returns with revenue growth of 39% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 51%. Pleasingly, the strong growth is across all state cohort types with pre-2022 state launch revenue up 33% year-over-year, including pre-2020 launch is 27% higher.

現在轉向每個部分。在美國，Peter 指出的出色季度意味著出色的財務回報，營收成長 39%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 51%。令人高興的是，所有州隊列類型均出現強勁增長，2022 年之前的州發布收入同比增長 33%，其中 2020 年之前的發布收入增長了 27%。

Sportsbook revenue grew 41% from stakes growth of 35% and a further expansion of our structural sportsbook net revenue margin. iGaming revenue is 47% higher, reflecting the gains we are making in the direct casino segment of the market and the product improvements the team has delivered over the last two years. This revenue performance, combined with operating leverage and sales and marketing helped deliver adjusted EBITDA of $260 million well ahead of market expectations.

體育博彩收入成長了 41%，原因是權益成長了 35%，而且我們的結構性運動博彩淨收入利潤率進一步擴大。 iGaming 收入成長了 47%，反映了我們在直接賭場市場領域取得的收益以及團隊在過去兩年中交付的產品改進。這一收入表現，加上營運槓桿以及銷售和行銷，幫助實現了 2.6 億美元的調整後 EBITDA，遠遠超出市場預期。

Outside of the US, revenue increased 10% due to the strong performances in UK&I and international. The UK&I, the combination of continued iGaming momentum, the European Football Championships and positive sports results drove revenue and adjusted EBITDA, 18% higher. Sports results were very favorable in the quarter, adding 190 basis points to our sportsbook net revenue margin. Positive results were most notable during the Euros which continued into July.

在美國以外的地區，由於英國、英國和國際市場的強勁表現，收入成長了 10%。英國和愛爾蘭、持續的 iGaming 勢頭、歐洲足球錦標賽和積極的體育賽事成績相結合，推動收入和調整後 EBITDA 增長 18%。本季的體育賽事成績非常理想，使我們的體育博彩淨收入利潤率增加了 190 個基點。正面的結果在歐洲盃期間最為顯著，一直持續到七月。

The previously noted softer Australian racing market resulted in associated year-on-year declines in that market with revenue down 10%. In international, the addition of MaxBet and 12% constant currency revenue growth in our other consolidated and invest markets, growth revenue 16% higher on a constant currency basis.

先前提到的澳洲賽馬市場疲軟導致該市場營收年減 10%。在國際方面，加上 MaxBet 以及我們其他綜合和投資市場 12% 的固定貨幣收入成長，以固定貨幣計算，收入成長高出 16%。

Turning now to our updated guidance for 2024. In the US, we have increased our midpoint revenue guidance to $6.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA midpoint of $740 million. This equates to year-over-year growth of 41% for revenue and 219% for adjusted EBITDA.

現在轉向我們更新的 2024 年指南。在美國，我們將營收指引中點提高至 62 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 中點為 7.4 億美元。這相當於營收年增 41%，調整後 EBITDA 年成長 219%。

This reflects the strong momentum we have in the business, including the excellent performance in Q2, including the sports results benefit and is after the $40 million net impact of the tax changes introduced in Illinois in July.

這反映了我們業務的強勁勢頭，包括第二季度的出色表現，包括體育賽事收益，並且是在 7 月份伊利諾伊州引入的稅收改革帶來 4000 萬美元的淨影響之後。

The gross tax impacted Illinois is $50 million in 2024 and we expect it to mitigate 50% of the tax from 2025 onwards. That is prior to any additional second-order benefits such as market share gains from subscale players which we're typically seeing where regulatory or tax changes have been implemented in our other markets.

2024 年，伊利諾州受影響的總稅收為 5,000 萬美元，我們預計從 2025 年起將減免 50% 的稅收。這是先於任何額外的二階效益，例如小規模企業的市場佔有率收益，我們通常會在其他市場實施監管或稅收變化時看到這些收益。

On a quarterly basis in the US, we expect a small EBITDA loss in Q3 and significant earnings to be generated in Q4. In the group ex US, we now expect both increased revenue of $8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.77 billion at the midpoint of our guidance. This equates to year-over-year growth of 8% for both metrics.

從美國的季度來看，我們預計第三季 EBITDA 會出現小幅虧損，而第四季將產生可觀的獲利。在美國以外的集團中，我們現在預計營收將增加 80 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 將達到我們指引的中位數 17.7 億美元。這相當於這兩個指標年增 8%。

As always, our guidance is provided on the basis that sports results are in line with our expectations for the remainder of the year. Current foreign exchange rates, no new state openings for the remainder of the year and in a consistent regulatory and tax environment. This guidance demonstrates the strong momentum we have across the group.

像往常一樣，我們的指導是基於體育成績符合我們對今年剩餘時間的預期而提供的。目前的外匯匯率，今年剩餘時間內沒有新的國家開放，並且監管和稅收環境保持一致。這一指導表明了我們整個集團的強勁勢頭。

With that, Peter and I are happy to take your questions. In the interest of time, can we ask that, as usual, we limit to two questions per person. With that, I'll hand you back to Jeremy to manage the call.

彼得和我很樂意回答你的問題。為了節省時間，我們能否像往常一樣，限制每人提出兩個問題。這樣，我會將您交還給傑里米來管理通話。

(Operator Instructions) Clark Lempen, BTIG.

（操作員說明）Clark Lempen，BTIG。

Peter, I wanted to see if we could open up by talking about US performance. 2Q results were nicely ahead, full year guidance was raised out of Illinois. I think Rob said pre 22-state growth was up 33%. Could you give us a little bit more color around, I guess, just what's sort of driving sort of strong results right now and what also is embedded for back half guidance?

彼得，我想看看我們是否可以透過談論美國的表現來敞開心扉。第二季業績大幅領先，伊利諾州提高了全年指引。我記得 Rob 說過 22 個州之前的成長率是 33%。我想，您能否給我們更多信息，目前是什麼推動了強勁的結果，以及為後半段指導嵌入了什麼？

Second question I have is related to the $40 million net headwind that you guys called out from Illinois. As we think about managing potential additional increases in taxes going forward, what are the key levers that you guys have at your disposal to mitigate those headwinds? And is the potential tax surcharge on player winnings maybe part of that calculus? Thanks very much.

我的第二個問題與你們從伊利諾州呼籲的 4000 萬美元淨逆風有關。當我們考慮管理未來潛在的額外稅收增加時，你們可以使用哪些關鍵手段來減輕這些不利因素？對玩家獎金徵收的潛在附加稅可能是該計算的一部分嗎？非常感謝。

Thank you for the questions, Clark. It's nice to be talking to you in your time zone for once and long may this continue. Let me give you some just thoughts around the US performance. And then I think I'll probably ask Rob just to give us the major building blocks.

謝謝你的提問，克拉克。很高興能在您所在的時區與您交談一次，希望這種情況能持續很長時間。讓我給你一些關於美國表現的簡單想法。然後我想我可能會要求羅布給我們主要的構建模組。

As I said in my opening remarks, I'm really pleased to see the strong performance in Q2. And I think it's a really good indication of the posture that we've adopted in the market of acquiring as much business as we can whilst ever we meet our return criteria.

正如我在開場白中所說，我很高興看到第二季的強勁表現。我認為這很好地表明了我們在市場上採取的態度，即在滿足回報標準的同時盡可能多地收購業務。

And to remind you, that's just to make sure that we can see less than a two-year payback. And I think we pushed hard in the first half and you can definitely see the benefits of that come through in the player numbers, the increase in acquisition that we saw in Q2. I think it stands as really good stead as we go in the back half of the year.

提醒您，這只是為了確保我們能看到不到兩年的投資回報。我認為我們在上半場努力推動，你絕對可以從玩家數量以及我們在第二季度看到的收購增加中看到這樣做的好處。我認為這與我們今年下半年的情況一樣非常好。

But Rob, maybe you want to just talk about the building blocks.

但是羅布，也許你只想談談建造模組。

Yes. I think, first of all, Clark, I'm delighted to be talking about an upgrade to the full year guidance for revenue and EBITDA in my first earnings call. As Peter said, we had a terrific performance in Q2 and that's partly driven by the positive sports results. What we see as a result of that is extremely strong drop-through in Q2. Without looking forward to the second half, the second half of the year still accounts for 40% of the revenue upgrade but that won't directly drop through to EBITDA for a couple of reasons.

是的。我認為，首先，克拉克，我很高興在第一次財報電話會議上談論全年收入和 EBITDA 指引的升級。正如彼得所說，我們在第二季度的表現非常出色，部分原因是積極的體育表現。我們看到的結果是第二季的跌幅極為強勁。如果不展望下半年，下半年的營收成長仍佔 40%，但由於幾個原因，這不會直接計入 EBITDA。

Firstly, we're choosing to invest a fair of $20 million behind customer acquisition, given those returns that we continue to see well within our kind of 24-month payback that we've previously stated. That momentum should set us up really well for 2025 as we take a larger business into next year.

首先，我們選擇在客戶獲取方面投資 2000 萬美元，因為我們在先前所說的 24 個月投資回收期內仍然看到了良好的回報。隨著我們明年開展更大的業務，這種勢頭應該會為 2025 年做好準備。

In addition, we've got an additional $20 million of operating costs and that's partly due to the higher payment costs which have been driven by the change in player behavior and more frequent deposits and withdrawals and partly due to some additional costs associated with the Beyond Play acquisition.

此外，我們還有 2000 萬美元的額外營運成本，部分原因是玩家行為的變化和更頻繁的存款和取款導致支付成本更高，部分原因是與 Beyond 相關的一些額外成本玩獲取。

If you then factor in the net Illinois impact of $40 million, you get to the full year guidance. So essentially, the full year upgrade, excluding Illinois, drops per at 35% or it's 15% ex Illinois. So we're absolutely delighted with that.

如果您考慮到伊利諾伊州 4000 萬美元的淨影響，您就得到了全年指導。因此，從本質上講，全年升級（不包括伊利諾伊州）下降 35%，或不包括伊利諾伊州則下降 15%。所以我們對此感到非常高興。

Thank you, Rob. And look, I suspect, Clark, you've got a question around the situation in Illinois. And I can imagine that a number of other people will have questions around how we're thinking about positioning ourselves in it. So I think it probably makes sense for me just to give a slightly more expansive answer to that question. And then I don't anticipate us needing to answer the question and subsequently for the people.

謝謝你，羅布。克拉克，我懷疑你對伊利諾州的局勢有疑問。我可以想像，其他許多人會對我們如何考慮如何在其中定位自己產生疑問。所以我認為對這個問題給出一個稍微更廣泛的答案可能是有意義的。然後我預計我們不需要回答這個問題並隨後為人們回答。

To start with, I think it's important to recognize that there's a happy medium for tax rates that enables operators to maximize market growth, provides the best experience for customers and over time, maximizes revenue for states. And most states have taken a sensible approach to date.

首先，我認為重要的是要認識到，有一個稅率的折中辦法，可以使運營商最大限度地實現市場增長，為客戶提供最佳體驗，並隨著時間的推移，最大限度地提高各州的收入。迄今為止，大多數州都採取了明智的做法。

I do think though that instituting a graduated tax system that punishes those who have invested the most to grow their businesses is wrong. I think it will drive customers to offshore operators or potentially to onshore operators who are operating unregulated and untaxed sport parlays under the guise of sweepstakes.

但我確實認為，建立累進稅制來懲罰那些投資最多以發展業務的人是錯誤的。我認為這將促使客戶轉向離岸運營商，或者可能轉向以抽獎為幌子經營不受監管和免稅的體育博彩的境內運營商。

We have lots of patent recognition of operating internationally in high tax locations. And our experience is that moderating levels of generosity or indeed reducing local marketing is the best response. As Rob mentioned, we often find as well that smaller players may also have to increase their prices which leads to us capturing more share which provides an offset for us.

我們在高稅收地區的國際營運中擁有許多專利認可。我們的經驗是，適度的慷慨程度或實際上減少本地行銷是最好的回應。正如羅布所提到的，我們也經常發現較小的參與者可能也必須提高價格，這導致我們獲得更多份額，這為我們提供了抵消。

And so we think that the moderating levels of generosity are reducing local marketing is the best customer option and we have no plans to introduce a surcharge for winners.

因此，我們認為，慷慨程度的降低正在減少本地行銷是最好的客戶選擇，我們沒有計劃對獲獎者收取附加費。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

Jordan Bender, Citizens JMP.

喬丹·本德，公民 JMP。

Maybe just to follow on the CPA questions. In 2Q here, that's been a big theme or topic across most players in the space. So are you seeing acquisitions costs fall kind of equally across iGaming and sports betting. And can you maybe point to why is this happening maybe year-to-date?

也許只是為了跟進註冊會計師的問題。在第二季度，這是該領域大多數參與者的一個大主題或話題。那麼您是否看到 iGaming 和體育博彩的收購成本同樣下降？您能否指出為什麼今年迄今為止會發生這種情況？

And then the second question off of that, the updated US guidance implies an increase in OpEx for the full year even after kind of accounting for the Illinois impact. Are the declining CPAs kind of that core reason why you're stepping up investment here? Or is there anything else you're seeing into the market or into football season here that kind of allowed you to invest more?

接下來的第二個問題是，更新後的美國指引意味著全年營運支出的增加，即使在考慮了伊利諾伊州的影響之後也是如此。註冊會計師的下降是你們加大投資力道的核心原因嗎？或者您在市場或足球賽季中看到了什麼其他東西可以讓您進行更多投資？

Thanks, Jordan. On a CPA basis, if I look at it, Q2 this year and Q2 last year, we actually would see that our costs have come down a little bit, even with the significant increase in customers that we -- customer numbers that we've acquired.

謝謝，喬丹。在每次轉換費用的基礎上，如果我看看今年第二季度和去年第二季度，我們實際上會發現我們的成本有所下降，即使我們的客戶數量大幅增加。

It's often difficult to try and look very precise because you do get an impact of new state launches which can often dilute the CPA cost because of our large DFS customer base that we can cross-sell into and other mechanisms that we have to give us advantages. But I think what's important is that we're maintaining the consistent posture that we've had in the market to acquire as much business as we can whilst we meet our return criteria.

通常很難嘗試並看起來非常精確，因為您確實會受到新狀態發布的影響，這通常會稀釋 CPA 成本，因為我們可以交叉銷售的龐大 DFS 客戶群以及我們必須為我們提供優勢的其他機制。但我認為重要的是，我們要保持在市場上的一貫立場，在滿足回報標準的同時盡可能地獲得業務。

We're very confident in offering the best prices to customers in the market and the best products in the market and we will maintain high levels of customer lifetime value. And together with the significant benefits we get in customer acquisition, it gives us real confidence to continue to acquire as much business as we can.

我們非常有信心為市場上的客戶提供最優惠的價格和最好的產品，並且我們將保持高水準的客戶終身價值。再加上我們在獲取客戶方面獲得的顯著收益，這讓我們有真正的信心繼續獲取盡可能多的業務。

I think -- the second part of your question, Jordan. So as Peter said, a, we're investing behind what we're seeing at some very strong payback. I think from an operating cost perspective, we've got the Beyond Play costs that I mentioned in the second half of year, we're also seeing some slightly higher payment costs and we're very comfortable with the position that we've got for the second half of the year.

我認為──你問題的第二部分，喬丹。因此，正如彼得所說，a，我們正在投資我們所看到的一些非常強勁的回報。我認為從營運成本的角度來看，我們已經得到了我在下半年提到的 Beyond Play 成本，我們也看到了一些略高的支付成本，我們對目前的狀況感到非常滿意今年下半年。

As I mentioned also earlier, we've got some very good momentum coming into the second half of the year from a revenue perspective. One of the other things that we'll be very focused on for the second half of the year moving forward is actually driving more operating leverage. All the costs are coming into focus. We're really looking to be as efficient and optimal as we can from a cost base perspective. But we do have a couple of additional costs.

正如我之前提到的，從收入角度來看，我們在今年下半年取得了一些非常好的勢頭。今年下半年我們將非常關注的另一件事實際上是提高營運槓桿。所有的成本都成為焦點。從成本基礎的角度來看，我們確實希望盡可能高效和優化。但我們確實有一些額外費用。

I think in addition, you've got the costs that we previously outlined in terms of investing behind the Flutter Edge capabilities and also some regulatory compliance costs in conjunction with our US listing. But we've previously signposted both of those that are in line with our expectations.

我認為此外，您還需要支付我們先前在 Flutter Edge 功能背後的投資方面概述的成本，以及與我們在美國上市相關的一些監管合規成本。但我們之前已經對這兩個符合我們預期的內容進行了標記。

Awesome. Thank you, Bob.

驚人的。謝謝你，鮑伯。

Ed Young, Morgan Stanley.

艾德楊，摩根士丹利。

Good evening. My first question is on the cohort growth that you talked through, Rob, on slide 6. It presents us very bullish to see obviously, strong growth across all these different cohorts. I perhaps wonder if broad-brush you could give some color on the relative mix of AMP growth and revenue per AMP growth you're seeing across those different cohorts just given us an understanding over what's driving some of that across the different areas?

晚安.我的第一個問題是關於您在幻燈片 6 中談到的隊列成長，Rob。我們非常樂觀地看到所有這些不同群體的顯著強勁增長。我也許想知道您是否可以粗略地描述您在這些不同群體中看到的 AMP 成長和每 AMP 成長收入的相對組合，讓我們了解是什麼推動了不同領域的成長？

And then second of all, perhaps a novelty of a non-US question. In UK&I, obviously, the Euros was known to be a good event but you've obviously had much stronger iGaming growth than sports betting growth. I just wonder if you could give a bit more color on what's driven that and how you've seen the tournament progressed from where you were pre-tournament? Thanks.

其次，也許是一個非美國問題的新穎之處。顯然，在英國和愛爾蘭，歐洲盃被認為是一項很好的賽事，但 iGaming 的成長顯然比體育博彩的成長強勁得多。我只是想知道您是否可以詳細說明一下是什麼推動了這一切，以及您如何看待比賽從賽前開始的進展？謝謝。

Ed, let me give just a few thoughts about the cohort growth to make -- and I think this is probably where you're coming from. But we continue to see an increases in things like our parlay penetration in our historical cohorts.

Ed，讓我簡單談談關於群體成長的一些想法——我想這可能是你的出發點。但我們繼續看到像我們的連贏彩滲透率在我們的歷史群體中的成長。

I think that's been something which has been very beneficial to us. If I think about that together with the step-ups we've seen in our sort of structural margin position has really helped drive the historical cohort performance. I think it's as true and you can see that in all of the different time frames that we lay out.

我認為這對我們非常有益。如果我考慮到這一點，再加上我們在結構性利潤率方面所看到的進步，確實有助於推動歷史同期表現。我認為這是事實，你可以在我們制定的所有不同時間框架中看到這一點。

Rob, anything you want to answer that?

羅布，你想回答什麼嗎？

Yes. I think specifically, I think we're very confident in the major cohorts and the growth they're driving, pre-2022 state acquisition. Revenue was up 16%, AMPs are 20% in 2022 and 2023, cohort state revenues up to 45%. So we've got some incredible growth coming through that.

是的。具體來說，我認為我們對 2022 年前國家收購的主要群體及其推動的成長非常有信心。2022 年和 2023 年營收成長 16%，AMP 成長 20%，同期狀態營收成長高達 45%。因此，我們取得了一些令人難以置信的成長。

With regards to the UK performance and the Euros specifically, I mean, we're absolutely delighted. The fact that Harry came and have his shooting boots on helps us with that mostly exited Q2 with some great momentum. And that continued into the third quarter with the first half of the month with the Euros. In addition to that, I think what's almost more encouraging for the UK is the gaming performance. So we're seeing some excellent gaming momentum this year.

我的意思是，對於英國隊尤其是歐元區的表現，我們絕對感到高興。事實上，哈利來了，穿上了他的投籃靴，這幫助我們在第二季結束時取得了一些巨大的動力。這種情況一直持續到第三季度，也就是上半月的歐元。除此之外，我認為對英國來說更令人鼓舞的是遊戲表現。因此，今年我們看到了一些出色的遊戲勢頭。

And actually, all four brands in the UK are posted gaming growth of 20% plus year-on-year which we are particularly happy with. So UK is in very good shape at the moment as we move into H2.

事實上，英國所有四個品牌的遊戲業務都比去年同期成長超過 20%，我們對此感到特別滿意。因此，當我們進入下半年時，英國目前的狀況非常好。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ryan Sigdahl, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

瑞安‧西格達爾 (Ryan Sigdahl)，克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. Want to start, there's been a couple of rumors, you might sign an agreement with Diamond Sports Group during naming rights for regional sports networks, separately potentially looking at Pen Interactive, the ESPN bet, no need to comment specifically on those rumors or directly but curious how you think about media tie-ins and what you've learned from other markets?

嘿，下午好，夥計們。首先，有一些傳言，您可能會在地區體育網絡的冠名權期間與 Diamond Sports Group 簽署協議，另外可能會關注 Pen Interactive、ESPN 的賭注，無需對這些傳言進行具體評論或直接評論，但好奇您如何看待媒體搭售以及您從其他市場學到了什麼？

And then secondly, second question, Caesars sold their intellectual property for World Series of Poker to GGPoker, your main global competitor there. Just curious how you think that may impact the competitive dynamics in your strategy around Poker? Thanks.

其次，第二個問題，凱撒將世界撲克系列賽的智慧財產權出售給了你們的主要全球競爭對手 GGPoker。只是好奇您認為這可能會如何影響您的撲克策略中的競爭動態？謝謝。

Thank you, Ryan. Look, I think we've always been able to benefit from our strong media times here in the US. Scale is definitely our friend. And we -- I think if I look at historically in the way in which we've been able to showcase our products and pricing with good integrations. I think it's always been important for us.

謝謝你，瑞安。聽著，我認為我們一直能夠從美國強大的媒體時代中受益。規模絕對是我們的朋友。我想，如果我回顧一下歷史，我們能夠透過良好的整合來展示我們的產品和定價。我認為這對我們來說一直很重要。

And I think it's part of what's helped with our strong customer acquisition performance. I think it's -- of course, really important you've got quality products you can back it up with, right? There's no point in people testing and trying your products and finding that they like it. And we're fortunate that we have the best product in the market.

我認為這是幫助我們獲得強大客戶表現的部分原因。我認為，當然，擁有可以支援的優質產品非常重要，對嗎？人們測試和嘗試你的產品並發現他們喜歡它是沒有意義的。我們很幸運，我們擁有市場上最好的產品。

I think from a sort of Caesars perspective, you're right, they have done this deal with, I think, with GGPoker, is the global competitor to our poker business, albeit one which operates in a lot of markets that we wouldn't be compared to operators.

我認為從凱撒的角度來看，你是對的，他們已經與 GGPoker 達成了這筆交易，我認為 GGPoker 是我們撲克業務的全球競爭對手，儘管它在許多我們不會經營的市場中運營。運營商進行比較。

I think there's some interesting questions there for some of those people are involved. I think the PokerStars business, it provides us with an important opportunity in the US market. I think the extent to which we can get share liquidity across states, it can give us some advantages. There is so -- when you look at it around the world, poker is breaking down into smaller segments from a liquidity perspective.

我認為對於其中一些參與其中的人來說，存在一些有趣的問題。我認為PokerStars業務，它為我們在美國市場提供了一個重要的機會。我認為我們可以在多大程度上跨州共享流動性，這可以為我們帶來一些優勢。確實如此——當你在世界各地觀察時，從流動性的角度來看，撲克正在分解成更小的部分。

And I think we're reasonably in a -- reasonably in strong position in some of those regulated markets because of the strength of the local hero brands that we have.

我認為，由於我們擁有的本地英雄品牌的實力，我們在一些受監管的市場中處於相當有利的地位。

Yes. I think just to add to Peter's point, from a poker perspective, we talked about Q1 and the fact that we've started to embark on a transformation for PokerStars. That's progressing really well. We're very pleased with the progress and actually by later this year, we'll see our poker platform rolled out in Switzerly which I think demonstrates our agility and how quickly we can move there.

是的。我想補充彼得的觀點，從撲克的角度來看，我們討論了第一季以及我們已經開始為撲克之星轉型的事實。進展非常順利。我們對進展感到非常滿意，實際上到今年晚些時候，我們將看到我們的撲克平台在瑞士推出，我認為這證明了我們的敏捷性以及我們能夠以多快的速度遷移到那裡。

Also from a performance perspective, a, PokerStars is doing very well. In the US, we're seeing some real green shoots and we're very optimistic about how big that business can become there. I think secondly, when you look at the PokerStars business in the rest of the world, we continue to see the positive impact of some pricing initiatives that we've put in place.

另外從業績的角度來看，撲克之星的表現也非常好。在美國，我們看到了一些真正的萌芽，我們對那裡的業務能發展到多大感到非常樂觀。其次，我認為，當你觀察世界其他地區的撲克之星業務時，我們會繼續看到我們實施的一些定價舉措的正面影響。

We've made some changes to both the loyalty which has resulted in cost savings. And we've also had a number of offset savings across our casino products. So really happy with the way that we're trending on poker overall.

我們對忠誠度進行了一些更改，從而節省了成本。我們的賭場產品還節省了大量的抵消費用。我們對撲克整體趨勢感到非常滿意。

Thanks, guys.

謝謝，夥計們。

James Rowland Clark, Barclays.

詹姆斯·羅蘭·克拉克，巴克萊銀行。

My first question is on Australia. You said there's no change to underlying trends and the upgraded EBITDA guide is sports results driven. Can you just give us some color on what you're focused on, particularly there that provides some confidence that trends have bottomed out as you previously mentioned?

我的第一個問題是關於澳洲的。您說過基本趨勢沒有變化，升級後的 EBITDA 指南是由體育賽事結果所驅動的。您能否給我們一些關於您關注的重點的信息，特別是那些讓我們相信趨勢已經觸底的部分，正如您之前提到的？

And then secondly slightly mitigating question on the interest charge which is guided up from $370 million to $405 million due to a delay in previously expected interest income benefit. Is this just raise interest charge in outer years or is this just a timing thing?

其次，稍微緩解了有關利息費用的問題，由於先前預期的利息收入福利延遲，利息費用從 3.7 億美元上調至 4.05 億美元。這只是提高了往年的利息費用還是只是一個時機問題？

Yes. So I can pick up those questions. So firstly, in Australia, I think we're really pleased with the performance that we've seen in the quarter. I think it's demonstrating a very resilient performance in the face of quite a tough regulatory backdrop.

是的。所以我可以回答這些問題。首先，在澳大利亞，我認為我們對本季的表現非常滿意。我認為，面對相當嚴格的監管背景，它表現出了非常有彈性的表現。

So as we said, we're seeing really good customer momentum and underlying trends are in line with the expected market declines that we've previously signposted. We're particularly seeing strong customer engagement on marquee events like the State of Origin games and Rugby where we've doubled the customer acquisition year-over-year.

因此，正如我們所說，我們看到了非常好的客戶動力，並且基本趨勢與我們先前預測的預期市場下滑相符。我們尤其看到了 State of Origin 比賽和橄欖球等大型活動的客戶參與度很高，我們的客戶獲取量比去年同期增加了一倍。

So some really good momentum in sports, in particular, in Australia outside of racing. And yes, as we said, we've had a benefit from sports results in the Q as well. So factoring all of that in, that's driving the upgrade in Australia which we're very pleased with.

因此，在運動中，特別是在澳洲的賽車之外，有一些非常好的動力。是的，正如我們所說，我們也從 Q 中的體育成績中受益。因此，考慮到所有這些因素，這推動了澳洲的升級，我們對此感到非常滿意。

I think from an interest perspective, some other projects that we had talked about previously to unlock cash efficiency across the wider group. Now we've laid until 2025 when we originally envisaged from H2 2024. So that's making up part of the change. In addition, when I've come in and we've had a look at the forecast, it was quite evident that some of our interest rates and cash assumptions in H2 were quite optimistic.

我認為從利益的角度來看，我們之前討論過的一些其他項目可以釋放更廣泛群體的現金效率。現在我們已經把時間延後到 2025 年，而我們最初的設想是從 2024 年下半年開始。這就是改變的一部分。此外，當我進來並查看預測時，很明顯我們對下半年的一些利率和現金假設相當樂觀。

So we have tweaked those and revise the forecast accordingly which is always now seeing a slightly higher number. But we're very confident in the number that we've now got and that's what we think we'll hit for the full year.

因此，我們對這些進行了調整，並相應地修改了預測，現在總是看到略高的數字。但我們對現在的數字非常有信心，這就是我們認為全年將要達到的數字。

I think just to add to that as well, we did finance -- refinance some very expensive Euros and US debt in May and we'll see that the benefit of some interest cost savings in that versus the current run rate in H2.

我想補充一點，我們在五月對一些非常昂貴的歐元和美國債務進行了融資——再融資，我們將看到與下半年當前的運行利率相比，節省一些利息成本的好處。

Dan Politzer, Wells Fargo.

丹‧波利策，富國銀行。

The first one, Peter, maybe you could remind us on some of the parameters through which you evaluate M&A. And how do you think about US opportunities or maybe balancing these relative to opportunities in Brazil or other jurisdictions and acknowledging here your leverage, I believe, is 2.6 times, your target is 2 to 2.5times.

第一個，彼得，也許你可以提醒我們一些評估併購的參數。您如何看待美國的機會，或如何平衡這些機會與巴西或其他司法管轄區的機會，並在此承認您的槓桿，我相信，是 2.6 倍，您的目標是 2 到 2.5 倍。

Maybe how high would you be willing to go for the right deal? And then secondly, your flow through, I believe you mentioned it was about 35% for the back end of this year, ex Illinois. Is that kind of the right ballpark to think about your flow-through on a normalized basis from here? And that's it for me.

也許您願意為正確的交易付出多高的價格？其次，我相信您提到過，今年年底（伊利諾伊州除外）的流量約為 35%。從這裡開始，在標準化的基礎上考慮您的流程是否正確？對我來說就是這樣。

Thanks Daniel, I'll answer the M&A question and Rob will talk to you about this -- the flow-through. I think the first thing to remind is, we've done a lot of M&A here in the US and internationally. We recently acquired Beyond Play. We also bought the financial business back in 2018 as well.

謝謝丹尼爾，我將回答併購問題，羅布將與您討論這個問題 - 流程。我認為首先要提醒的是，我們在美國和國際上進行了大量併購。我們最近收購了 Beyond Play。我們也在 2018 年收購了金融業務。

So we will be happy to make acquisitions in this market if we think it will help us. It's also important to recognize that internationally, there are many, many markets in either regulated or soon to be regulated markets, where we're not yet present with either podium position or certainly a gold medal position. And we've had a great track record of acquiring businesses in those markets, supplying the Flutter Edge and see a big step-up in performance.

因此，如果我們認為這對我們有幫助，我們將很樂意在這個市場進行收購。同樣重要的是要認識到，在國際上，有很多很多市場處於受監管或即將受到監管的市場，而我們在這些市場中還沒有登上頒獎台，也沒有獲得金牌。我們在這些市場收購業務、供應 Flutter Edge 方面擁有良好的記錄，並看到效能的大幅提升。

Sisal is a great example of that. Actually, Tombola is another example of us doing it in market. Our experiences in (technical difficulty) all around the world, we've got great experiences.

劍麻就是一個很好的例子。事實上，Tombola 是我們在市場上做的另一個例子。我們在世界各地的（技術難度）方面都有豐富的經驗。

We find ourselves on making sure that we look at less everything that gets traded in our space. And if necessary, we will go beyond our leverage target to do the right type of deal if we've got confidence we can deleverage quickly. And thinking of that is what you've seen us recently, we're bringing our leverage share now off the back of the very strong growth in earnings in the US.

我們發現自己正在確保我們減少關注在我們的空間中交易的一切。如果有必要，如果我們有信心能夠快速去槓桿化，我們將超越我們的槓桿目標來進行正確類型的交易。想想你最近看到的情況，我們現在在美國獲利強勁成長的背景下降低了槓桿份額。

With regards to the flow-through question, a couple of points to mention on this. I mean, a, we are going to see some difference in flow-through by quarters as we move forward because it can be impacted by a number of factors, including both sports results and seasonality.

關於流程問題，有幾點需要提及。我的意思是，隨著我們的前進，我們將看到季度流量的一些差異，因為它可能受到許多因素的影響，包括體育比賽結果和季節性。

And also, where we see opportunities to continue investing at the level of paybacks that we talked about, we'll continue to do so because that's what's driving our superior returns. That's what's driving our market share gains and yet our overall kind of virtual firewall is the business.

此外，如果我們看到有機會繼續以我們所討論的回報水平進行投資，我們將繼續這樣做，因為這就是推動我們獲得卓越回報的原因。這就是推動我們市場佔有率成長的原因，而我們的整體虛擬防火牆就是業務。

So we're not holding ourselves or anchoring to a specific number. But we are quite confident at this stage that given the momentum we've got, we will continue to see a decent drop-through on the incremental revenues that we're driving.

因此，我們不會堅持或固定在一個特定的數字上。但現階段我們非常有信心，鑑於我們所擁有的勢頭，我們將繼續看到我們正在推動的增量收入出現可觀的下降。

Paul Ruddy, Davy.

保羅魯迪、戴維.

Just two for me, well, probably both interconnected. Just on the -- maybe the competitive intensity. Firstly, maybe in iCasino, when you think about BetMGM speaking to increased investment in iCasino, is there anything there you feel you may have to respond to?

對我來說只有兩個，嗯，可能兩者都是相互關聯的。只是——也許是競爭強度。首先，也許在 iCasino 中，當您想到 BetMGM 談到增加對 iCasino 的投資時，您覺得您可能需要回應什麼嗎？

And the second, similarly, in the sports fear, there's a couple of operators speaking about refreshed product launch. Could you kind of give us some detail on why you think your product advantage will retain into the new NFL season?

第二個，類似地，在體育恐懼中，有一些運營商正在談論更新的產品發布。您能否詳細說明為什麼您認為您的產品優勢將保留到新的 NFL 賽季？

Paul, I mean, fairly straightforward responses for you. I think from a competitive intensity perspective, we've always maintained what I will describe as a robust posture acquiring as much business as we can whether that's in the states which just do sports or the states are doing sports and iGaming.

保羅，我的意思是，對你的回答相當簡單。我認為從競爭強度的角度來看，我們一直保持著我所描述的強勁態勢，無論是在只進行體育運動的州還是在進行體育和網絡博彩的州，我們都獲得了盡可能多的業務。

Of course, we get the benefit the cross-sell for iGaming. But look, we're very pleased with the forward to the first half, we talk about Q2 today and what is referenced what we're going to do to think about continuing to push hard in the second half of the year.

當然，我們從 iGaming 的交叉銷售中獲益。但看，我們對上半年的展望非常滿意，我們今天討論第二季度，以及我們將要做什麼來考慮在下半年繼續努力。

It's not just around the investment in marketing. We have also been investing a lot in building out our product capabilities. I'm really pleased when I look at the performance of parlays and MLB at the moment. Historically, it wasn't an area of strategy for us.

這不僅僅是行銷投資。我們也投入了大量資金來增強我們的產品能力。當我看到連贏彩和 MLB 目前的表現時，我真的很高興。從歷史上看，這不是我們的戰略領域。

And we've almost got to the same level of penetration as we would do in things like the NFL. So clearly, the product advantages within having -- we've been doing a lot around live betting and there's a stack load of things that we're going to deploy to take our product forward into the new football season that launches at the beginning of September.

我們幾乎已經達到了與 NFL 等組織相同的滲透水平。很明顯，產品的優勢在於——我們在現場投注方面做了很多工作，我們將部署大量的東西，以將我們的產品帶入將於年初啟動的新足球賽季。

So we've got the best product in the market. We've got the best pricing in the market and we intend to work very hard to keep a long way ahead of our competitors.

所以我們擁有市場上最好的產品。我們擁有市場上最優惠的價格，我們打算努力工作以遠遠領先競爭對手。

Joe Stauff, SIG.

喬·斯托夫，SIG。

Peter, Rob. I had two questions for you on the US. AMP growth in the quarter, 27%. I was wondering if you could disaggregate that for us between OSB and iCasino. And then two, with respect to the effort to in-source a lot of the, say, technical and tech stack capabilities of your US iCasino offering, where are you in that process? The reason I ask is I'm trying to anticipate say, the gross margin pickup you get once that's fully in-house?

彼得、羅布.我有兩個關於美國的問題想問你。本季 AMP 成長 27%。我想知道您是否可以為我們在 OSB 和 iCasino 之間進行分類。其次，關於內購美國 iCasino 產品的許多技術和技術堆疊功能的努力，您在這個過程中處於什麼階段？我問的原因是我試著預測，一旦完全內部化，毛利率會上升嗎？

Joe, well, it's a great question because I'm delighted to tell you that we've actually brought our iGaming product in-house in the US. And it's not a cost play but it's certainly going to improve our ability to deploy our own in-house content into the US market which is not something we've been able to do in the past. It is also going to help improve things like the stability of the platform as well. So we will definitely drive benefits of it. I think there's a lot of exciting initiatives that we can deploy off the back of it.

喬，這是一個很好的問題，因為我很高興地告訴您，我們實際上已經在美國內部引入了 iGaming 產品。這不是成本遊戲，但它肯定會提高我們將自己的內部內容部署到美國市場的能力，這是我們過去無法做到的。它還將有助於提高平台的穩定性等。所以我們一定會從中受益。我認為我們可以在此基礎上部署許多令人興奮的舉措。

Then Rob, you want to just talk about the AMP?

那麼 Rob，您想談談 AMP 嗎？

Yes. In terms of the AMP, we're 30% both sportsbook and iGaming. A small decline on DFS, as you'd expect in a bit of cannibalization being we're really happy with the growth across the both sportsbook and iGaming. That's very much continuing into the second half of the year.

是的。就 AMP 而言，體育博彩和 iGaming 的比例均為 30%。DFS 略有下降，正如您所預期的，我們對體育博彩和 iGaming 的增長感到非常滿意。這種情況將持續到今年下半年。

And just to clarify, Peter, so it is 100% then, say, in-sourced at this point in terms of the iCasino tech stack say?

Peter，我想澄清一下，那麼就 iCasino 技術堆疊而言，目前是 100% 內源的嗎？

Yes. Look, I mean, clearly, the big part of iGaming is working with third-party providers. We'll continue to work extensively with partners in that space. But when I look at all the work that we've done around deploying our own cross-product promotional engine into iGaming, the stuff that you'll see us doing around that, what we've done around, there's also lot of stability to control.

是的。聽著，我的意思是，顯然，iGaming 的很大一部分是與第三方提供者合作。我們將繼續與該領域的合作夥伴廣泛合作。但是當我看到我們圍繞著將我們自己的跨產品促銷引擎部署到 iGaming 所做的所有工作時，你會看到我們圍繞這方面所做的事情，我們所做的事情，也有很多穩定性控制。

There's a lot of things that we've been able to bring from our experiences around the world and into the US market. And we now sit on our own in-house tech stack.

我們能夠將我們在世界各地的經驗中的許多東西帶入美國市場。我們現在擁有自己的內部技術堆疊。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) Monique Pollard, Citi.

（操作員指示）Monique Pollard，花旗銀行。

Okay. I'll stick to one then. On the US gross margin. The gross margin was really good in the quarter, 45.1%. Presumably, if I just think about sort of how you've been growing in the different states, there's been some scaling therefore, of the non-tax COGS.

好的。那我就堅持一個吧關於美國的毛利率。該季度的毛利率非常好，為 45.1%。據推測，如果我只考慮一下您在不同州的成長方式，那麼非稅銷貨成本就會有所擴大。

So I just want to understand what sort of initiatives are being put in place there? And also when we think about the full year gross profit margin, we've talked about 43.5%, obviously, that was excluding the Illinois tax impact. Is that still the guide ex the Illinois tax impact? Or has that been also increased?

所以我只是想了解那裡正在採取什麼樣的措施？而且，當我們考慮全年毛利率時，我們談到了 43.5%，顯然，這不包括伊利諾伊州稅收的影響。這仍然是伊利諾伊州稅收影響的指南嗎？還是也增加了？

I think one of the points I just made is to remember the impact of the sports results which has quite a profound impact, particularly when not all of our cost of sales are -- 25% impact on handle. So it's -- that will have a barring but Rob are there any more details you want to?

我認為我剛才提出的觀點之一是要記住體育比賽結果的影響，它具有相當深遠的影響，特別是當我們的銷售成本並非全部都對手柄產生 25% 的影響時。所以，這會有一個限制，但羅布，你還想知道更多細節嗎？

I think there's probably a couple of points to mention, Monique. I mean one is when you look at cost of sales more broadly, we now expect it to be roughly 56.8% of revenue which is very much in line with the previous guidance of 56.5%.

我認為可能有幾點需要提及，莫妮克。我的意思是，當你更廣泛地審視銷售成本時，我們現在預計它大約佔收入的 56.8%，這與之前 56.5% 的指導非常一致。

When you look at the composition of our cost sales and as Peter said here, some of its driven by sports results. But there are some other levers that we can pull in cost of sales and we will pull over time. If you look at payment costs, for example, we had an increase in payment cuts as a function of our deposits of withdrawal system that we've got set up for our customers which essentially makes it easier for them to deposit withdraw, they love that feature. But as a percentage of revenue, the payment costs are about 6% for our revenue.

當你看看我們的成本銷售組成時，正如彼得在這裡所說，其中一些是由體育賽事成績所驅動的。但我們也可以透過其他一些手段來降低銷售成本，並且隨著時間的推移我們將會採取這種手段。例如，如果你看一下支付成本，我們的付款削減有所增加，這是我們為客戶建立的存款提款系統的一部分，這本質上使他們更容易存款提款，他們喜歡這樣特徵。但以收入的比例來看，支付成本大約占我們收入的 6%。

So quite a significant cost but we've got significant pattern recognition from other markets across the world, other jurisdictions where we've lent into payment costs and reduce them over time and we definitely see some opportunities to do that in the US.

這是相當大的成本，但我們已經從世界各地的其他市場和其他司法管轄區獲得了顯著的模式認可，我們在這些司法管轄區提供了支付成本並隨著時間的推移降低了成本，我們肯定在美國看到了一些這樣做的機會。

There's actually a system coming in next year where we think we'll start to make some in-road payment costs. You've got other things as well. We've got sales (technical difficulty) applied costs but we also think that over time we'll be able to address.

實際上，明年將推出一個系統，我們認為我們將開始支付一些路上的支付費用。你還有其他的東西。我們有銷售（技術難度）應用成本，但我們也認為隨著時間的推移我們將能夠解決。

So yes, in line with guidance and there's a number of things that leave us that we think we can pull on cost of sales moving forward to stay within the longer-term guidance that we've previously outlined.

所以，是的，根據指導意見，我們認為我們可以將銷售成本控制在我們之前概述的長期指導範圍內。

Robert Fishman, MoffettNathanson.

羅伯特‧菲什曼，莫菲特‧內森森。

Peter, in your recent write-up on the similarities between Flutter Edge and Fergie’s Manu, you discussed the importance of developing and maintaining a distinct competitive advantage. So I'm just kind of curious if you can talk about your confidence of maintaining or even growing your number one position in the US. And if you want to speak about the success of North Carolina as an example?

Peter，在您最近關於 Flutter Edge 和 Fergie’s Manu 之間相似之處的文章中，您討論了發展和維持獨特競爭優勢的重要性。所以我很好奇你是否能談談你對維持甚至提高你在美國第一的地位的信心。如果您想以北卡羅來納州的成功為例？

Robert, I think it's -- I'm pleased you read the article. Look, I think it is important when you look at the business that we've assembled globally and the way that we've been able to do that in a way that empowers each of our local markets. I think businesses are trying to do things in a substantial place can often get bogged down with trying to coordinate things around product road maps and stuff like that. We think it's really important to have local teams delivered and delivering on what's required in the local market.

羅伯特，我想是——我很高興你閱讀了這篇文章。看，我認為當你看看我們在全球範圍內組建的業務以及我們能夠以增強每個當地市場能力的方式做到這一點時，這一點很重要。我認為，試圖在實質領域做事的企業常常會因為圍繞產品路線圖和類似的事情來協調事情而陷入困境。我們認為讓本地團隊交付並滿足本地市場的需求非常重要。

But what we're doing through the Flutter Edge is we ensure that in a small number of areas, we have really good examples of the team supporting each other. I'd call out actually what we're seeing here in America with our -- the strength in our casino business, a lot of the team who are leading that have come from around the world and have had great experience and patent recognition of having run big casino operations for elsewhere.

但我們透過 Flutter Edge 所做的是，確保在少數領域，我們擁有團隊相互支持的良好範例。我實際上想說的是，我們在美國所看到的——我們賭場業務的實力，許多領導團隊來自世界各地，擁有豐富的經驗和專利認可在其他地方經營大型賭場業務。

We've been able to bring things like our reward mechanics into the market from our UK business and we've been able to bring technology from other markets as well. So I think what we've done here in casino is a great example of the Flutter Edge coming to life.

我們已經能夠將我們的獎勵機制等東西從我們的英國業務引入市場，我們也能夠從其他市場引入技術。所以我認為我們在賭場所做的就是 Flutter Edge 的實現的一個很好的例子。

When you look at the same game parlay, we're the first to bring that to Italy and I mentioned earlier, 20% of our customers in Italy use that in the Euros. That's another great example of the Flutter Edge in action.

當您查看相同的連贏遊戲時，我們是第一個將其引入義大利的公司，我之前提到過，我們義大利 20% 的客戶使用歐元。這是 Flutter Edge 實際應用的另一個很好的例子。

Jed Kelly, Oppenheimer.

傑德凱利，奧本海默。

Just going back to the taxes and I get not implementing the surcharge. But can you talk about just given your experience in other jurisdictions how you flutter can be proactive in terms of preventing sort of some of the state contagion, especially if some of your wind margins continue to go up?

回到稅務問題，我發現沒有實施附加費。但是，根據您在其他司法管轄區的經驗，您能否談談您如何積極主動地預防某些州的蔓延，特別是如果您的一些風能利潤繼續上升？

I think you probably sneaked in, in terms of a slightly different approach to the point I made earlier. We do operate in a lot of different markets around the world. And I think it's -- when you look at -- there are plenty of examples we can highlight where in some places where they push the tax rate up, they've actually seen the tax take decline. So these are not straightforward decisions for these bodies to take because it may not actually achieve what they're aiming for.

我想你可能是偷偷溜進來的，與我之前提出的觀點略有不同。我們確實在世界各地許多不同的市場開展業務。我認為，當你看時，我們可以強調很多例子，在他們提高稅率的一些地方，他們實際上看到了稅收的下降。因此，這些機構所做的決定並不是直截了當的，因為它可能無法真正實現他們的目標。

We'll be familiar with the latter curve, there are optimal points, we believe, for taxation to be set. And look, we try and spend as much time as we can in educating and showing our experiences with safe bodies to ensure that they can achieve the best outcome for themselves and the customers as well.

我們將熟悉後一條曲線，我們相信，存在設定稅收的最佳點。看，我們嘗試花費盡可能多的時間來教育和展示我們在安全機構方面的經驗，以確保他們能夠為自己和客戶實現最佳結果。

Joseph Thomas, HSBC. Simon Davies, Deutsche Bank.

約瑟夫‧托馬斯，匯豐銀行。西蒙戴維斯，德意志銀行。

Just one from me. Brazil, it looks like it's finally set to launch in the new year. Can you just talk a bit about how well you're positioned in that market? And is it one of those markets where you might need to bring in M&A to scale up?

只有我的一份。巴西，看起來終於要在新的一年推出了。能簡單談談您在該市場的定位嗎？它是您可能需要進行併購以擴大規模的市場之一嗎？

Simon. Yes, look, it's -- I can remember talking about Brazil in our probably earnings call in 2018. So I mean we're finally getting there when the regulation is going to pass this time. We are excited about it, so tremendous congested, a lot of time there and they will absolutely sort of soccer map. There's obviously a lot of betting that happens in the market today.

西蒙.是的，你看，我記得在 2018 年的財報電話會議上談論巴西。所以我的意思是，當這次法規通過時，我們終於到達了那裡。我們對此感到興奮，如此巨大的擁擠，在那裡有很多時間，他們絕對會有點足球地圖。顯然，當今市場上發生了許多押注。

I think we're reasonably well placed with our Betfair brand in that market. And of course, we also operate PokerStars out there as well. We are ambitious, right? We like to have podium positions. And I really would like to have gold medal positions.

我認為我們的 Betfair 品牌在該市場中處於相當有利的地位。當然，我們也在那裡經營撲克之星。我們雄心勃勃，對嗎？我們喜歡登上頒獎台。我真的很想拿到金牌。

We've been able to do that organically in many markets around the world but we're also, in time, often resourcing to M&A and we think that when we did that, we were able to apply the fluctuation in supercharges businesses. So we will work out what we want to do in Brazil and when we made a decision, we'll let the market know if there's something to say.

我們已經能夠在世界各地的許多市場中有機地做到這一點，但我們也經常將資源用於併購，我們認為，當我們這樣做時，我們能夠應用增壓業務的波動。因此，我們將弄清楚我們想在巴西做什麼，當我們做出決定時，我們會讓市場知道是否有話要說。

Andrew Tam, Redburn.

安德魯譚，雷德伯恩。

So at the start of the year, you flagged pretty well that it was attacked towards leaning into customer acquisition. Are you satisfied with your efforts during the first half. Do you think you could have gone harder in that regard?

因此，在今年年初，您很好地指出，它受到了傾向於獲取客戶的攻擊。您對上半年的努力還滿意嗎？你認為在這方面你可以更努力嗎？

And then just as a follow-on, is there a natural tapering of expectations given the hit to customer on TVs in certainly in the Illinois market, given the change there? And does that mean there's a reallocation of spend out of that market into other states?

接下來，考慮到伊利諾州市場的變化，消費者對電視的衝擊，期望是否會自然減弱？這是否意味著該市場的支出會重新分配到其他州？

Andrew, we have talked in the past about having looked at historical performance in which in we've learned in and done more. And partly that's because we found that the lifetime values of customers have ended up being greater than we had originally anticipated. I think that -- and that's in part because of better retention in part, it's been a stronger cross-sell into iGaming. It's also been because of the expansion of our adverse margin and parlays penetrations and things like that.

安德魯，我們過去曾討論過查看歷史表現，從中我們學到了更多東西，做得更多。部分原因是我們發現客戶的終身價值最終超出了我們最初的預期。我認為——這部分是因為更好的保留，部分是因為 iGaming 的交叉銷售更強。這也是因為我們的不利利潤率和連本帶利滲透率的擴大以及類似的原因。

If you look at the performance in Q2, I mean all of those things continue to be true. And so I think historically, we would always wish we had acquired more business. I think we did push hard in Q2. We kept it in our guardrails. And I think the team delivered a great job. We continue to refine our playbook. And if we think of further opportunities to push and we can deliver the great returns we will.

如果你看看第二季的表現，我的意思是所有這些事情仍然是正確的。因此，我認為從歷史上看，我們總是希望能夠獲得更多業務。我認為我們在第二季度確實努力推動。我們把它放在護欄裡。我認為團隊完成了出色的工作。我們繼續完善我們的策略。如果我們想到進一步的機會來推動，並且我們能夠帶來豐厚的回報，我們就會這麼做。

Robin Farley, UBS.

羅賓法利，瑞銀集團。

I wanted to circle back to your not having plans introduce the surcharge. I'm just kind of curious why you wouldn't see it as an opportunity to recapture a significant part of not only in Illinois but also in New York and Pennsylvania and maybe even prevent future states that might be falling what Illinois did.

我想回到你們沒有計劃引入附加費的問題。我只是有點好奇為什麼你不認為這是一個機會，不僅可以奪回伊利諾伊州的重要部分，還可以奪回紐約州和賓夕法尼亞州的大部分地區，甚至可能防止未來可能像伊利諾伊州那樣淪陷的州。

I mean if you as a market leader, it seems fairly low risk if the two market leaders both pass along the cost and no one's really at a competitive disadvantage. So just kind of curious why not take that opportunity?

我的意思是，如果你作為市場領導者，如果兩個市場領導者都轉嫁成本並且沒有人真正處於競爭劣勢，那麼風險似乎相當低。所以只是有點好奇為什麼不把握這個機會呢？

Robin, I doubted that earlier and I don't have anything further to say.

羅賓，我之前對此表示懷疑，現在我沒有什麼好說的了。

James Wheatcroft, Jefferies.

詹姆斯‧惠克羅夫特，傑弗里斯。

Just a question really around product and development as you go into the next NFL season. I'm particularly thinking about best in play and how that's going to be incremental to the parlay product, how that will shape over the course of this following season and into next year, please?

當你進入下一個 NFL 賽季時，這只是一個真正圍繞產品和開發的問題。我特別考慮的是最好的比賽，以及這將如何增加連贏彩產品，這將如何在下個賽季和明年形成，好嗎？

James, I think if we look at Q2, we were really pleased actually with how our investment in live betting helped us. I think we mentioned that we saw the proportion of customers in betting in the NBA playoffs was a 4 times higher than we had done in previously.

詹姆斯，我認為如果我們看看第二季度，我們對現場投注的投資如何幫助我們感到非常滿意。我想我們提到過，我們看到 NBA 季後賽投注的客戶比例是我們之前的 4 倍。

Look it definitely helps when we improve the quality of the product. And for the NFL, we've got some great initiatives and plans that we -- plans to get behind us at the same game parlay lies for the season start. So yes, it's an important product for us.

看起來，當我們提高產品品質時，這肯定會有所幫助。對於 NFL，我們有一些偉大的舉措和計劃，我們計劃在賽季開始的同一場比賽中支持我們。所以，是的，這對我們來說是一個重要的產品。

All right. And that does conclude the Q&A. I will now hand it back over to Peter and the team for closing remarks.

好的。問答部分到此結束。我現在將其交還給 Peter 和團隊進行總結發言。

Okay. Thank you, everybody, for joining the call. It's been fantastic to do it from here in our operational headquarters in New York. And I hope all of our US based analysts have appreciated not getting up in the middle of the night in a further seasoning sprint. But we're delighted with the performance in Q2 and look forward to catching up with you all soon.

好的。謝謝大家加入這通通話。在我們位於紐約的營運總部進行這件事真是太棒了。我希望我們所有的美國分析師都意識到不要在半夜起床進行進一步的調味衝刺。但我們對第二季的表現感到滿意，並期待很快與大家見面。

That concludes today's presentation. Have a pleasant day.

今天的演講到此結束。祝你有愉快的一天。