Paddy Power-Betfair Q3 Trading Update


METRICS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN PADDY POWER-BETFAIR TRADING UPDATE
 
Management optimistic that FY performance forecast will be exceeded.
 
The Paddy Power-Betfair online gambling group released a third quarter trading update Friday, reporting positive metrics, with the following highlights:
 
* EBITDA up 53 percent to GBP 113 million;
 
* Full year profit guidance raised to between GBP 390 million and GBP 405 million;
 
* Revenue up 25 percent to GBP 404 million (up 15 percent in constant currency);
 
* Underlying EBITDA margin increased from 23 percent to 28 percent;
 
* Underlying operating profit up 68 percent to GBP 95 million.
 
The company said that growth was mainly driven by sports, including a strong conclusion to the Euro 2016 football tournament, with sportsbook stakes up 26 percent (constant currency +14 percent)
 
Looking ahead, management commented that Q3 trading and accelerated results of synergy delivery were cause for an upward revision in underlying EBITDA.
 
Group chief executive Breon Corcoran reported:
 
"This was another good quarter for Paddy Power Betfair. We are continuing to focus on building a stronger combined operation by exploiting the unique assets and capabilities of each legacy business, and on using our scale to better serve our customers.
 
"Work is underway to combine the best of Betfair and Paddy Powers technology into a multi-brand, multi- channel, multi-jurisdictional platform that will start to unlock the full potential of the Groups scale and will lead to increased pace of development and faster roll out of new products."