DAVY VIEW

Entain has announced that its relatively newly appointed CEO Gavin Isaacs (commenced September 2024) will step down with immediate effect, with Stella David again assuming the role of Interim CEO. This will mark the second departure of a permanent CEO in 14 months. We spoke to the company and they noted that although Isaacs and the Board were aligned on group strategy, there were differences between him and the Board which were seemingly unreconcilable. Entain is at a critical point in its turnaround journey, so the timing of this is unfortunate and will likely cause investor concerns, particularly with an outstanding regulatory issue (Austrac case), although the company noted that this is fully unrelated to that issue. This will lead to another period of uncertainty while the market awaits a permanent replacement. On the more positive side, the comments on trading are reassuring and Stella David navigated the ship relatively well during her last period as Interim CEO.