Pari-Mutual Urbain’s horse racing revenues entered the green for the first time in eight years, following a concerted effort by the group to focus on the vertical.

Overall, PMU’s revenue for the first half of 2019 stood at €4.76bn, representing a 2.8 per cent decline year-on-year. It also saw revenue fall by 1.7 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

Horse racing represents 80 per cent of PMU’s business. Chief executive Cyril Linette said that the growth of 0.5 per cent in horse racing activity in the second quarter showed that the group’s initiatives were bearing fruit.

He said: “This is all the more encouraging as it is the first positive quarter since 2011, excluding periods in which a new product was launched.

“We will continue our efforts to simplify our offering and improve services for bettors and network partners.”