Betfair operating profit up 53%

ator Betfair has reported a 53% operating profit increase for the year ended 30 April.

The total of £94.3m is up from £61.6m, while revenue also went up, rising 21% to £476.5m.

EBITDA improved 32% to £120.2m, and the operator highlighted that the figure would be a 53% increase when excluding the UK point-of-consumption tax regime, which was implemented in November.

Earnings per share went up 75% to 85.9p and dividend per share ascended 70% to 34.0p.

New customer acquisition was upped by 65%, while active customer numbers increased 52% to 1.7 million.

The number of customers cross-sold from sports to gaming saw a 100% upturn.

In the fourth quarter alone, revenue went up 13% to £124.3m and active customer numbers increased 46% to one million.

Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran said: “The financial year started with the World Cup, which allowed us to engage with many new and existing customers and gain trading momentum. This carried on throughout the rest of the year, culminating in record customer numbers and betting volumes at the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National meeting.

“We continue to invest heavily in the business. This year we spent £28m more on marketing and customer bonuses and added more than 60 people to our product development teams.”