Paddy Power Betfair cuts outlook despite positive quarter

Business News

Paddy Power Betfair saw a 7% rise in revenue and a 4% rise in pre-tax profit during the first six months of this year, when compared with the same period in 2017.

Revenues at the bookmaking giant reached £867m in the first half of 2018 – compared to £827m a year ago.

Pre-tax profit, meanwhile, rose to £106m – up £4m year-on-year.

Paddy Power Betfair said it recorded growth across all of its operating divisions during the period.

Online revenue was 13% higher, with sports and gaming seeing similar gains.

Its revenues in the US were up 20%, with the firm anticipating further growth there following its acquisition of FanDuel.

Meanwhile its revenue in Australia grew by 19%, while the Fifa World Cup aided its growth in Europe.

PPBF said, taking away the cost of sales and marketing, the soccer tournament added £8m in profit to its bottom line in the second quarter.

“We have made substantial progress against our strategic priorities and trading in Q2 was good, with all brands and operating divisions contributing to the Group’s double-digit revenue growth,” said Paddy Power Betfair’s CEO Peter Jackson.

“We now have much better visibility of the regulatory and fiscal changes in the UK, Australia and the USA, and believe that our scale, leading customer propositions and strong balance sheet mean we are well positioned to build a business that can generate sustainable shareholder returns over the long term.”

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