Jan 13 (Reuters) - British gambling group Entain ( GMVHF )

said on Monday it expects core profit for 2024 to be at the top

end of its forecast range, helped by operator friendly sports

results during the fourth quarter despite unfavourable sporting

results in the United States.

The owner of Ladbrokes now expects core profit at the top of

its forecast of 1.04 billion pounds ($1.26 billion) to 1.09

billion pounds ($1.32 billion).

However, Entain ( GMVHF ) reiterated its $250 million core loss

forecast for BetMGM, its joint venture with MGM Resorts ( MGM )

in the U.S., as sports results during the fourth quarter were in

favour of the customers.

Bookmakers typically profit when the underdog team prevails,

but incur losses when the favourites win.

Flutter, the world's largest online betting

company, expects a hit to its 2024 earnings as American football

gamblers enjoyed an unprecedented winning streak.

Flutter had also added that the NFL season to date has been

the most customer-friendly since the lifting of a U.S. ban on

sports betting in 2018, with the highest rate of NFL favourites

winning in almost 20 years.

($1 = 0.8230 pounds)

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by

Mrigank Dhaniwala)