Betfair today announced its unaudited results for the six months ending 31 October, demonstrating strong first half earnings with a core revenue of £170.3m – 12% year-on year growth in Q2.
Betfair, who announced itself sponsor of the Cypriot first division football club Apollon Limassol earlier this month, said that the impressive results were driven by a good start to the football season. New mobile products driving growth, rises in the number of customers and the value of bets (16.2m bets – up 103%) were also thought to contribute to better than expected results.
Co-founder, Edward Wray, said underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 36% to £42.4m in the six months to October. That was ahead of an average forecast of £37.4m based on a poll of 10 analysts supplied by the company.
In a press release, departing chief executive David Yu, said: “These results were driven by an excellent exchange performance following a very positive start to the football season and improved monetisation of activity.”
While one of the world’s largest betting community celebrated impressive first half earnings, another major bookmaker also had something to celebrate. Paddy Power – who, unlike Betfair- saw a 5.2% in Dublin trading on Saturday, today signed a three year agreement with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) – the provincial lottery operator in British Columbia, Canada.
The deal will see Paddy Power supplying product, pricing and risk management services to the lottery’s online sports betting business from summer next year. Paddy Power Chief Executive, Patrick Kennedy, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with BCLC. They are our first lottery partner, and this is our first transaction in North America, a geography which will be of increasing strategic importance to us in the future. Today’s announcement is a further endorsement of our product and partnership capabilities. As the global online market continues to regulate, these qualities continue to position us strongly for future international expansion.”
To provide betting services, Paddy Power had to gain approval from the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch of British Columbia in order to obtain the contract. This is because BCLC is the only operator permitted under Canadian law to offer sports betting in British Columbia.
Vice-President of eGaming at BCLC, Rhonda Garvey, said “We are very excited about our partnership with Paddy Power and the opportunities it will bring to PlayNow.com. Paddy Power’s proven expertise and product integration with the PlayNow.com/OpenBet system is essential to providing our players with an unparalleled online sports betting experience.”
