Paddy Power Betfair has announced positive results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2017.
The company has reported a 23 per cent increase in revenue to £416m, with underlying EBITDA up 87 per cent to £111m and underlying operating profit up 114 per cent to £91m.
Growth was largely driven by sports, according to the company, as the trading update showed sportsbook stakes were up 18 per cent.
Breon Corcoran, chief executive, said: “Reversing the trend of the past two years, results at Cheltenham 2017 favoured bookmakers and this contributed to good revenue growth. Combined with the annualisation of merger-related cost savings and continued focus on operating efficiency, this resulted in a doubling of operating profits in the first quarter. Since then, however, at high profile events such as the Grand National, Premier League football and the US Masters, results favoured customers, and overall gross win margins were weak in April.
"A key strategic focus for 2017 is the integration of our technology platforms. This project is on track and we expect both our European brands to be operating on a common platform by the end of the year, at which point customers will start to benefit from increased pace of new product delivery.”
