Betfair Group plc Preliminary results for the 12 months ended 30 April 2012
'A year of building momentum leaves us well placed for future growth'
Group summary
|
|
Underlying | Reported | ||||
|
|
FY12 £m |
FY11 £m |
% change |
FY12 £m |
FY11 £m |
% change |
|
Revenue |
389.7 |
368.6 |
+6% |
389.7 |
393.3 |
-1% |
|
Adjusted EBITDA |
85.7 |
73.2 |
+17% |
89.6 |
79.7 |
+12% |
|
Basic earnings per share |
41.1p |
33.9p |
+21% |
33.1p |
22.6p |
+46% |
Financial highlights
- Core Betfair revenue growth of 10% in H2 results in full year revenue up 6% to £349.5 million
- Core Betfair adjusted EBITDA up 15% to £92.1 million
- Core Betfair adjusted EBITDA margin up 2.1ppts to 26.4%
- Group underlying earnings per share up 21% to 41.1 pence per share
- Final dividend up 19% to 7.0 pence per share to give a full year dividend of 10.2 pence per share
- Completed £50 million share buyback in the year
Operational highlights
- Good exchange performance: Non-risk sports revenue up 11% in FY12
- Mobile driving growth: 44 million bets (up 122%) and £22.7 million of revenue (up 97%)
- Technology re-architecture and data centre consolidation completed allowing focus on new products
- Next generation sports products launched, including 'fixed odds' bets, which will drive future growth
- Strong current trading: Core Betfair revenue up 18% in the last 8 weeks
Commenting on the results, Stephen Morana, Betfair's Interim Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We have delivered double-digit net gaming revenue growth in Core Betfair in each of the last three quarters and a healthy increase in profits. We have also started to deliver on our strategic objectives, including the launch of important new products that will drive future growth.
"Our unique Betting Exchange has continued to be the main driver of growth this year, with contributions from all major sports. Betfair has achieved many new highs, with records set in most of the major sporting events including the Champions League final, Cheltenham festival, Wimbledon, US Masters and Indian Premier League. The Exchange has continued to deliver market leading odds and this has been the focus of our marketing message in recent months.
"Mobile betting has been a key feature of the year for the industry and our substantial investment in the channel has given us a clear product advantage. The increasing penetration of smartphones and the convenience of the channel for customers have led to strong growth in mobile usage and revenues. In April alone, customers placed over 6 million mobile bets and almost 50% of UK & Ireland actives used the channel. We are making further enhancements to our mobile exchange betting product and have recently broadened our offering to include sports multiples and casino games on mobile.
"We have now completed the major re-architecture of our technology platform, which allows the introduction of new customer facing products and has enabled substantial improvements to our website. Most recently, we have commenced the rollout of our next generation sports products, which integrate our risk product with the Exchange to create a one-stop shop for sports betting.
"FY13 has started well, with Core Betfair revenue up 18% in the first 8 weeks against the prior year, driven by the European Championships and a return to historical margin levels in risk products, as well as the continued success of our value led marketing campaign and further mobile growth. New products and the opening up of new geographies leave us well placed for future growth. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to lead the business in this interim period and would like to thank all employees for their support. We look forward to Breon joining us on 1 August."
