Flutter cuts FY26 guidance as Brazil impairment widens Q3 net loss

The impacts of unfavourable sports results and the ban on betting in Brazil have led Flutter Entertainment to reduce its FY2026 guidance.

In its Q3 results released on Wednesday, Flutter posted a net loss of $1.15 billion during the three months ending 30 September.

Despite revenue edging up 2% to $3.87 billion, $873 million in non-cash impairment charges relating to its Brazilian business led to a loss significantly higher than the $789 million posted in Q3 2025.

With Brazil’s regulated market shut down by President Lula in late September, $537 million of Flutter’s post-tax impairment charge was attributable to its 56% stake in Flutter Brazil, a business formed last year in a deal that saw the Paddy Power owner pay $356 million to Betnacional owner NSX Group.

In response to the ban, Flutter closed its Betfair business in Brazil, with Betnacional now its sole brand in the market.

Flutter’s adjusted EBITDA fell 25% during Q3 to $360 million, and the company has opted to reduce its guidance to reflect the Brazil market shutdown, as well as unfavourable sports results in its US and International segments.

The company has lowered its full-year revenue guidance midpoint by $300 million to $17.61 billion, while its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance has been reduced by $160 million to $2.495 billion.

In a letter to shareholders, CEO Dan Taylor, who replaced Peter Jackson on 1 October, said the company was “very disappointed” with the provisional measure that banned betting in Brazil.

“In response, we have acted decisively; our operations are currently closed, and we have paused all discretionary and uncommitted spend,” Taylor said.

“With the right regulation, Brazil still has the opportunity to be an attractive market for us, however, we will remain disciplined in our deployment of capital as the regulatory environment continues to evolve.”

On the post-Q3 earnings call, Taylor added the company was “ready to resume operating” if the market returns.

How did Flutter’s FanDuel brand perform in the US?

Flutter’s US revenue through its FanDuel brand rose 6% to $1.46 billion, supported by sportsbook growth of 4% and iGaming growth of 8%.

However, FanDuel’s adjusted EBITDA dropped 94% to $3 million, which Flutter attributed to investment into its prediction market offering, as well as its July launch in the Canadian province of Alberta.

With Flutter vowing earlier this year to improve its US value proposition, Taylor said the measures it had taken, such as the launch of its FanDuel Rewards programme, had delivered “encouraging returns”, helping it gain market share in sportsbook.

“I strongly believe we have the best assets to capture the significant opportunity in the increasingly competitive North American market,” Taylor explained. “However, we must reaffirm our US leadership position by operating at a faster pace, delivering relentless product innovation, and investing where we see the opportunity to deliver long-term value.”

Taylor also identified prediction markets as a key growth area after Flutter launched FanDuel Predicts last December.

FanDuel Predicts had 66,000 average monthly players across Q3, a 39% quarter-on-quarter rise.

Flutter’s CEO said the company will continue to invest in the product next year, with the business “increasingly well-placed to capture the prediction markets opportunity”.

On the earnings call, Taylor highlighted the impact of prediction market operators on the wider US betting industry’s marketing environment. He said category-wide media spending increased by more than 60% year-on-year in September and more than 50% in October, primarily driven by investment from prediction market operators.

“It also puts pressure on some of our share of voice, and we need to be disciplined about how we spend our marketing dollars,” he added.

Business restructuring in the UK&I

Last month, Flutter announced a business restructure in which 1,400 jobs could be lost across its UK&I operations.

With adjusted EBITDA from Flutter’s International segment down 14%, the company attributed this primarily to the near doubling of the UK’s remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, which came into effect on 1 April this year.

However, Flutter’s UK&I revenue increased 4% to $889 million during Q3 as iGaming revenue surged by 12%, offsetting a 6% decline in sportsbook revenue.

The company took market share in the UK during Q3, and Taylor said the restructure will put the company in a stronger market position.

“We believe this right-sizes the UKI business going forward and positions us well to take market share in the post UK tax increase environment,” Taylor said.

Flutter’s geographical performance

Of Flutter’s other geographical segments, Southern Europe and Africa performed most strongly, with revenue growing 13% to $836 million, powered by 17% iGaming growth from the region.

Meanwhile, its Central and Eastern Europe segment also increased its revenue by 10% to $166 million, with market share gains in Georgia, Serbia and Armenia.

Growth in these regions helped to offset a 4% decline in revenue to $349 million from its Asia Pacific region. Flutter attributed this drop to the closure of the real-money gaming market in India.

Taylor vows to simplify Flutter’s operating model

In his letter to shareholders, Taylor said Flutter’s next phase would be “more streamlined” to maximise its scale.

With that in mind, Taylor said Flutter expects to deliver an additional $500 million in gross operating cost and capital expenditure savings by 2029.

Flutter plans to achieve this through AI adoption, organisational restructuring and technology simplification.

“Flutter has an exceptional set of assets and opportunities,” Taylor commented. “Realising their full potential will require hard choices, faster decisions and strong execution.

“I know confidence is earned through delivery and that is what I am focused on.”