Paddy Power Betfair reveals major profit jump in Q1

Paddy Power Betfair has said that growth within its sports betting businesses helped to boost revenue and profit during the three months through to March 31, 2017.

Total revenue in the first quarter came in at £416 million (€491.2 million/$536.5 million), which represents an increase of 23% on the £339 million generated in the same period last year.

Sport revenue was up 28% year-on-year to £326 million, boosted by an 18% rise in sportsbook stakes to £2.7 billion, while gaming revenue also climbed by 6% to €90 million.

Meanwhile, underlying operating profit rocketed by 114% year-on-year to €91 million, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also increased by 87% to £111 million, with a greater margin of 26.6%.

Breon Corcoran, chief executive of Paddy Power Betfair, which was formed in February of last year through the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, said: “Reversing the trend of the past two years, results at Cheltenham 2017 favoured bookmakers and this contributed to good revenue growth.

“Combined with the annualisation of merger-related cost savings and continued focus on operating efficiency, this resulted in a doubling of operating profits in the first quarter.

“Since then, however, at high-profile events such as the Grand National, Premier League football and the US Masters, results favoured customers, and overall gross win margins were weak in April.”

Corcoran added: “A key strategic focus for 2017 is the integration of our technology platforms; this project is on track and we expect both our European brands to be operating on a common platform by the end of the year, at which point customers will start to benefit from increased pace of new product delivery.”

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