Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Entain enjoyed an operating profit of £530 million (US$733.4 million) in 2020, up 2 percent. About 89 percent owes to online betting, according to City A.M.
“It is a great testament to the quality of our people and the strength of our business model that the group’s growth continued during 2020, despite the Covid-19-related sporting cancellations and retail closures that were necessary at times during the year,” said Barry Gilson, Entain’s non-executive chairman.
In other Entain news, the company will utilize a new model for early intervention of problem gaming throughout its U.K. portfolio. The goal is to find customers with the greatest risk, according to SBC News.
The model, developed over 18 months, relies on Entain’s proprietary ARC (Advanced Responsibility and Care) safer gambling player monitoring system. Constructed by an in-house team, ARC uses open source and commercial data with behavioral indicators to target at-risk customers.
“We have been working on player affordability concepts for the past 18 months as part of our ARC affordability program,” said Peter Marcus, group operations director at Entain.
Entain’s model comes at a time of regulatory debate on how far is far when it comes to discovering at risk gamblers. Tim Miller, executive director of policy development for the U.K. Gambling Commission said operators had to improve the way they measured and intervened what constitutes affordability.
“We firmly believe that a more personalized, individual approach to player protection is the way forward which is why, for the most vulnerable customers, we have taken action as soon as we can,” said Jette Nygaard-Andersen, chief executive of Entain. “We are deeply committed to giving every customer the best experiences and protection we can, tailored to their particular needs.”
Entain expects its ARC model to go live across its 14 U.K. brands this summer.
In its annual gender pay gap report, Entain said it has improved its efforts to bring parity in pay throughout the company.
Entain has a median hourly pay gap of 7.1 percent, compared to the U.K. national average of 15.5 percent for mass-market businesses. The company reached this goal across its Ladbrokes Coral retail estate business, which employs 54 percent women.
The median bonus gap stayed at 13 percent as a result of delayed 2019 payments in its office and stadia units, according to SBCNews.
In 2020, Entain kicked off new directives towards parity, improving group-wide inclusivity and increasing the talent development capabilities.
Entain coupled with LinkedIn to reach out to female candidates outside its primary business which received an 8 percent increase in female applicants. This year, Entain will launch a succession planning tool to make sure gender parity is part of discussions with all candidates.
Also in 2020, Entain finished its initial career development program for 250 female industry executives. The company emphasized broader gender parity awareness and education directives, including a network series hosting over 200 business leaders.
“Our ambition is to make sure everyone here at Entain feels valued, respected and included,” said Nygaard-Andersen. “Inclusion is embedded in everything we do, because we know when we feel respected and heard we do our best work.”
In related news, Miller addressed industry executives and stakeholders at the CMS Law Gambling Conference on responsible gaming issues. The strategic approach balances the industry’s commercial interests with consumer safeguards and protections.
