Betting giant Betfair likes what it sees for full year 2012 and recent sales up 12 percent
Despite a drop in the first quarter, Betfair Group likes what it has saw in the second quarter and like what it forecasts for the year. The world's largest betting exchange said that a good beginning to the football season was spurring positive action in the second quarter. Chief financial officer Stephen Morana said the estimated full year revenue of over 345 million pounds seemed realistic. That amount would come from Betfair’s core business; a total in sales of 390 million would account for other income.
"Core business revenue of 346 million pounds equates to between 8-10 percent growth for the rest of the year," Morana continued. "We were 12 percent in August and are pretty comfortable that the signs are positive for the rest of the year."
The company’s core activities comprise sales from sports betting as well as from Betfair betting exchange products. Founded 10 years ago by two experts in the field, former gambling pro Andrew Black and Edward Wray, a former trader at Wall Street’s JP Morgan, the company acts as an intermediate between gamblers placing wagers or offering odds to other gamers. Betfair then takes a reasonable percentage from their winnings. Last year, more than 900 million bets were made with Betfair.
Recently, however, the company added a different kind of product to its offering-- a traditional bookmaking service. This the company calls its "risk sports" product.
Company shares leaped 7.8 percent to 677 pence recently; this positive growth pushed the company into the top percentage gainers on London’s stock market, the FTSE 250 index.
May saw a big drop in revenue from risk sports, though following that time period, the risk products brought in levels on par with past revenues.
"A couple of other companies have also spoken about May just being a rather odd month where lots of favourites came in," said Morana. "Especially in football - it was the final month of the season across Europe and it seemed to me game after game the favourites kept on winning."
