Wimbledon betting is flying, according to Betfair chief executive Breon Corcoran.
“The longer and more painfully Andy Murray stays in, the better for us,” he said. “His US Open final against Novak Djokovic was our best-ever single event with £67 million going through our exchange.
“Rafa Nadal’s exit on Monday saw £13 million staked, which was unusually high for a first-round match.” Betfair, which saw off a £988 million takeover approach from private equity firm CVC last month, today revealed that pre-tax profits fell 27% last year to £38 million but increased its dividend by 27% to 13p a share. Revenues were flat at £387 million.
“It has been a year of transition,” said Corcoran. “We lost revenues from places where the regulations changed but steadily built up more sustainable, regulated income.”
CVC’s final proposed offer was 920p a share, and today the shares were down 4p at 826p. Under its new management, Betfair is concentrating on developing its fixed-odds Sportsbook website.
