Announcing its results for the six months to the end of October, Betfair said earnings (EBITDA) for the period totalled £48.9m – a 16 per cent year-on-year rise.
Underlying pre-tax profit was £32.5m, a 56 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2012.
Overall revenues were down by six per cent as a result of Betfair withdrawing from a number of lucrative unregulated markets. Sales in regulated markets now account for 77 per cent of group revenues, compared with 71 per cent at the same time last year. Interim dividends rose by 50 per cent, from 4p to 6p per share.
Commenting on the results, CEO Breon Corcoran said: “Betfair has continued to make progress against the strategic objectives we set out in December 2012 and has delivered a good first-half performance.
“Our focus on regulated jurisdictions and sportsbook-led acquisition continues to be successful.
“The progress we have made in the first six months means we expect underlying EBITDA for the full year to be between £82m and £87m,” he added.
