Betfair to change focus

Sportsbetting exchange and online casino operator Betfair has released its financial results for the six months to the end of October showing that it experienced a five  percent year-on-year increase in overall revenues to £200.6 million.

However, London-based Betfair revealed that its underlying six-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell by two percent year-on-year to £42.3  million while its profit before tax dropped 22 percent when compared with the same period in 2011 to £21 million.

 

Betfair recently pulled out of Greece and Germany due to regulatory uncertainties and declared that it intends to alter its strategy and focus on markets with clear-cut  directives.

 

“This is a solid set of results for the first six months of the year,” said Breon Corcoran, the new Chief Executive Officer for Betfair.

 

“We are now pursuing a new and more focused strategy to address the business’ challenges and exploit its market opportunities.”

 

Corcoran served as Chief Operating Officer for Irish retail and online sportsbetting provider Paddy Power before joining Betfair four months ago and declared that he has  already identified some £20 million in cost savings.

 

“The review we have carried out over the past four months has demonstrated a number of strengths,” said Corcoran.

 

“Betfair has a unique product offering, strong brand affinity and scale in the UK. However, we have also identified a number of areas requiring change and fixing these will  take time.

 

“Recent regulatory developments have been challenging and we are reducing our exposure to markets with an uncertain regulatory future. We will focus investment within  regulated markets with sustainable revenues.”

 

According to a report from the Reuters news service, Betfair has recently trimmed the number of languages it offers online while cutting around 50 people from its workforce  of more than 2,000. For its part, the operator said that current underlying trading is ‘in line with expectations’ as adjusted revenues have improved by seven percent  year-on-year.

 

“Creating a simpler product that retains the key advantages of the exchange combined with investment to return the brand to its previously strong position will allow us to  increase our audience and accelerate revenue growth,” said Corcoran.

 

“I’m excited to be leading Betfair through this change and proud of what we’ve achieved over the last four months.”

 

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