The gambling group behind Ladbrokes and Sportingbet revealed a £40 million hit on its 2024 earnings from regulatory headwinds in the UK and the Netherlands, prompting analysts to trim back consensus forecasts.

Entain shares fell by 41.5p, or 5 per cent, to 788.75p in early trading, although the company hailed a strong 2023 performance with overall revenue growth of 14 per cent, including trading from BetMGM, it US joint venture, at the top end of expectations.

It said that although it expected the UK rule changes to be positive for the company in the long run, there might be some short-term player disruption. Meanwhile, the Dutch authorities had recently proposed tighter deposit limits that had the potential to affect this year’s earnings.

Stella David, Entain’s