Online revenue increased by 4% to £228m, although retail revenue was down 2% to £77m.

Paddy Power Betfair said it anticipated the slight retail decline, due to the breakout of equine flu and shop closures in the Irish estate last year.

The operator’s US operations, which includes FanDuel, continue to grow, with total revenue up 47% to £78m. FanDuel was the number one brand in New Jersey with 50% share of the state's sports betting market.

Peter Jackson, PPB CEO, said: "Q1 was a good quarter for the group with revenues up 17%, notwithstanding customer-friendly sports results in the UK. Underlying momentum remains good for Paddy Power with 22% growth in average daily actives.

"For Betfair, we continue to make good progress on the technology development work to enhance our global customer propositions which will enable us to accelerate international growth."

In Australia, revenue increased by 20% to £96m, due to good underlying customer activity with 17% growth in stakes.

Jackson added: "As we anticipated (with Australia), our ongoing investment in customer value and the recent tax increases are strengthening Sportsbet’s competitive positioning."