The dust is settling; the morning after the leak before. The picture isn’t pretty for UK operators. Remote gaming duty will leap from 21% to 40% in April 2026, before online sports betting is lifted from 15% to 25% in April 2027. The government expects the move to raise £1.1bn by the start of the next decade. Operators, on the other hand, are fearing the worst. Job losses, shop closures, marketing and promos slashed and black market leakage are all being forewarned.
Those listed giants, in the shape of Flutter, Entain and evoke, have all made public announcements following the Chancellor’s Budget, which was leaked ahead of time via the Office for Budget Responsibility. Rank Group and Playtech (albeit a supplier), two other listed gambling companies, have also warned the market and shareholders of what’s to come. The picture, clearly, is not a pretty one.
Flutter Entertainment
The largest operator in the UK, with Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming, Betfair and tombola, Flutter said a $320m adjusted impact was now pegged for 2026.
Bosses added a $540m impact has been forecast for 2027.
So-called “first order mitigation” would include reduced operational, promotional and marketing spend, helping offset 20% of the gross impact. Continued readjustment would offset 40% of 2027’s gross impact.
As such, the net impact in 2026 would be $235m and 2027 would be $339m.
Flutter said: “These tax increases will have a very significant impact on the overall market. As the largest scale operator, Flutter has the opportunity to deliver material second order mitigation benefits, including market share gains.
“We believe this, combined with additional operational efficiencies, will provide substantial opportunities to help offset the impact in the medium-term.”
Flutter’s Q3 revenue from the UK and Ireland was up 1% year on year to $853m.
Entain
The Ladbrokes and Coral parent company has forecast a £200m additional cost to the UK and Ireland online business, as said it was “disappointed” with the tax hikes.
Entain said it expects to be able to mitigate around 25% of the £200m via actions including “reducing marketing and promotions”.
This would translate to an EBITDA impact of around £100m in full-year 2026, which is 8% of consensus full-year 2026 EBITDA, and approximately £150m in 2027.
However, the firm said it expected to take market share as smaller businesses exit the UK
“These disproportionate tax increases will have a detrimental impact on the economic contribution of the gambling industry, put jobs at risk, reduce funding for sports, and benefit the black market.
“Entain’s globally scaled and geographically diverse portfolio of leading positions in attractive markets, sees the group well positioned to absorb such regulatory and tax changes whilst continuing to deliver sustainable growth,” the FTSE 100 firm added.
Evoke
Evoke, which runs William Hill, 888 and Mr Green in the UK, said duty costs are set to rise by £125m to £135m once all the tax hikes are in place from April 2027. Around £80m of the pre-mitigation impact will come from 2026.
Management said around 50% of the impact could be mitigated via “supplier savings, reduced marketing, retail store closures, operating cost savings and potential changes to the customer proposition”.
Simialrly to Entain and Flutter, evoke said it “potentially stands to benefit from further consolidation of market share” as smaller operators exit.
Evoke is also withdrawing its medium-term financial targets as it explores future investment plans. A report from Sky News this week suggested the operator could sell its Italy-facing arm as a mitigation plan.
Rank Group
Rank Group said the RGD hike and the abolition of the bingo duty would lead to a reduction of around £40m to operating profit before mitigation.
That sum includes a £46m additional duty cost to the digital arm offset by £6m in savings from the bingo duty being axed.
UK-only underlying operating profit in full-tear 2024-25 was £25m, bosses noted.
Rank added: “The group is reviewing various mitigating actions for the UK digital business in the context of our profitability, investment plans and the competitive landscape, which will inevitably be impacted as a result of the tax changes announced by the Chancellor.”
Playtech
The FTSE 250 supplier said it expected 2026 group adjusted EBITDA to be impacted to the tune of “high-teens millions of euros before mitigation”.
“However, given the group’s geographic diversity across regulated markets and strong performance and prospects outside of the UK, Playtech remains comfortable that it can meet market expectations for the full-year 2026,” management added.
H1 2025 revenue from the UK for Playtech was down 3% from €66m to €64.2m.
Check out the full Budget reaction from industry CEOs
The post Operators lay out mitigation plans as UK tax hikes loom first appeared on EGR Intel.
Flutter, Entain and evoke all state costs would soar into the hundreds of millions, although trio point to potential to take market share due to operator exits
The post Operators lay out mitigation plans as UK tax hikes loom first appeared on EGR Intel.