Analysts expect Entain to drop from FTSE 100

• Entain and Persimmon are tipped to leave the FTSE 100 in FTSE Russell’s next quarterly review.
• Entain shares trade around 530p, roughly 42% below their 52-week high, as gambling tax rises hit sentiment.
• Group underlying EBITDA fell 2% to £479.3m in H1, even as net gaming revenue grew 7%.

Entain looks set to drop out of the FTSE 100 when FTSE Russell finalises its next quarterly index reshuffle, according to City analysts.

Alongside housebuilder Persimmon, the Ladbrokes Coral owner is one of two firms widely expected to be relegated to the FTSE 250, as a prolonged slide in its share price runs headlong into a heavier tax bill across its core markets.

Falling out of favour

The stock has been sliding for months. Entain shares are changing hands at roughly 530p, a drop of around 42% from the 916p peak they touched over the past year. Since the start of 2026 the decline works out to about 30%, with the shares closing out 2025 near the 767p mark.

Entain runs one of the gambling industry’s largest brand portfolios, spanning Ladbrokes, Coral, bwin and partypoker, alongside its 50% stake in the BetMGM joint venture with MGM Resorts International in the US. The Isle of Man-headquartered group employs around 28,000 people across more than 30 regulated markets.

That scale has not insulated the share price. Rising taxes across Entain’s core markets have pushed investors to demand tighter cost discipline. UK gambling operators have been absorbing a steep rise in Remote Gaming Duty, which jumped from 21% to 40% in April, with a new 25% Remote Betting Rate set to apply within General Betting Duty from April 2027, covering online sports wagers.

Entain has already responded with job cuts, and fellow operator Evoke has flagged a comparable duty hit in its own H1 results.

Operators have also faced tougher tax and regulatory conditions in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Entain has separately offloaded 20% of its stake in its CEE joint venture, with net proceeds to be applied directly to Entain’s outstanding debt.

Revenue up, margins squeezed

Continuing operations delivered a 7% rise in group net gaming revenue to £2.55bn, or 5% once currency effects are stripped out, as part of Entain’s H1 trading update. Reported revenue climbed by the same 7% margin, reaching £2.51bn.

Player activity surged during the FIFA World Cup, lifting Entain’s UK and Irish brands in particular. Online NGR across the UK and Ireland climbed 13% at constant currency, matched by a 13% gain in Australia, while Spain outpaced both with a 28% rise.

Profitability told a different story. Underlying EBITDA slipped 2% to £479.3m, and underlying operating profit fell 10% to £318m, down from £352m the previous year. Entain attributed the gap to a sharp jump in tax costs: the corporate tax charge rose from £19.5m to £57.8m, pushing the effective tax rate to 34.4%, while total tax payments more than doubled to £93.1m.

Betting on the rebound

Even so, the £479.3m outcome cleared the £455m analyst consensus for Entain’s core business. Under chief executive Stella David, the group has left its FY2026 guidance untouched: online NGR growth of 5-7% at constant currency, group underlying EBITDA of £910m-£960m excluding BetMGM parent fees, and an online margin of 21-22%. Entain still expects to offset around a quarter of this year’s UK tax increase.

The stakes for hitting that guidance are higher than usual. Entain reported statutory losses of £681m in 2025 and £461m in 2024, with the bulk of last year’s shortfall tied to a £488m impairment linked to the UK tax rise.

The company has also spent recent years distancing itself from an earlier chapter: in 2023 it agreed a £615m deferred prosecution agreement with HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service over bribery uncovered in its former Turkish operations.

Entain has sat in the FTSE 100 since June 2020, when it traded as GVC Holdings, a status built on the roughly £4bn purchase of Ladbrokes Coral back in 2018. FTSE Russell’s verdict, expected within weeks, will reveal whether the market is willing to back Entain’s turnaround story, or whether the tax burden outpaces the recovery first.