London-based Internet betting exchange Betfair announced its financial report for the first six months of this fiscal year. Apart from an increase in revenue and earnings, the company posted a cash return totaling £200 million.
Betfair’s revenue grew by 26%, reaching £237.6 million in the six-month period ended October 31. What is more, the company reported an outstanding 51% increase in earnings before the subtraction of interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. They added up to a total of £73.9 million. The betting provider stated that it expects its full-year earnings to reach between £97 million and £103 million.
The excellent financial performance was due to the increased interest of bettors during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as to the sports results, which were quite favorable. Excluding these two major factors, the company would still have reported a growth, but only by 12%.
Turnover from fixed-odds and exchange sports betting increased 23%, reaching £166.6 million. In addition to this, revenue from gaming activities grew by 44% to reach the amount of £42 million. This was mainly due to the 63% increase in customers who have taken advantage of Betfair’s casino games for the first time. Furthermore, turnover from online gaming marked the impressive 145% increase in revenue.
As it was announced earlier this week, Betfair shut down its New Jersey poker site due to its poor performance. Despite this fact, the company posted a 17% rise in its US turnover. It was contributed to its TVG Network, an American digital cable and satellite television network, that launched an iOS betting application not long ago. The app became the first one of its kind to be approved for Apple’s iTunes platform.
Betfair announced that 80% of its turnover for the first six months of this fiscal year came from “sustainable” markets such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Bulgaria, etc. What is more, the number of its active customers reached over one million.
Breon Corcoran, the company’s CEO, stated that attracting new customers and their retention was due to the launch of some new products, such as Cash Out, Cash Back Extra, and Price Push.
Mr. Corcoran also shared that the betting provider is planning to start collaborations with other major companies around the world. He announced that Betfair might consider the purchase of new entities. It seems, however, that the company has not a firm target yet.
What is more, Corcoran pointed out that those £200 million that were returned to investors would by no means affect the betting provider’s ability to proceed with the acquisition of new entities.
He also shared his opinion on the strong performance of his company as being the result of a careful strategy for “sustainable growth”.
