Betting giant Flutter's London exit deals another blow to UK markets

June 12 (Reuters) - FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment said on Friday it would delist from the London Stock Exchange in August while retaining its primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, dealing a fresh blow to the British capital's financial markets.

The betting giant said the decision was in the best interests of its shareholders, about a month after it began a review of the London listing and two years after it decided to swap its primary listing to the NYSE.

Flutter, the world's largest online betting company, cited low trading volumes and regulatory costs in London for abandoning the secondary listing, with the last day of trading set for July 31 and delisting for August 3.

SHIFT AWAY FROM LONDON

It joins a growing list of companies that have either shelved plans to list in London, exited the market altogether, or aimed to better capitalise on stronger foreign markets by demoting or scrapping their London listing.

Amid a roiling of global markets due to the Iran war, Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index is valued at about £2.4 trillion ($3.21 trillion), far below the S&P 500's $63 trillion and only slightly higher than Microsoft.

Britain has embarked on broad regulatory reforms, including easing rules for companies to raise funds, to boost the appeal of London as a global financial hub after a prolonged downturn in new share issuance.

Flutter has been ramping up its U.S. focus. Last month, it overhauled the management at its FanDuel brand amid tough U.S. betting market conditions following a disappointing performance that saw 2026 profit growth forecasts slashed to just 1%.

FanDuel has a leading 39% share of the U.S. betting market, and the country is Flutter's biggest revenue contributor, accounting for about 42% of sales.

($1 = 0.7467 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Jan Harvey)