First-quarter revenues at Paddy Power Betfair increased 23 per cent compared to the same period in 2016 to £416 million (€492m) on the back of "growth driven by sports". On a constant currency basis, however, the increase of group revenue was more modest and increased by 15 per cent.
However, the group's sportsbook net revenue percentage was behind the company's expectations in the quarter, but was up on the first quarter in 2016 which suffered from adverse sports results, most notably at the Cheltenham Festival.
At this year’s Cheltenham festival 19 of the 28 races were profitable compared with just 11 in 2016.
Operating profit at the group also grew in the three months to the end of March. The growth of 114 per cent closed out the quarter with an underlying operating profit of £91 million (€107.2m).
“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,” said Broen Corcoran, chief executive of Paddy Power Betfair.
Weak month
However, Mr Corcoran also noted that April was a weak month for the company "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".
Online revenue, which makes up over half of overall group revenue, increased in the quarter by 15 per cent, while gaming revenues increased 2 per cent.
The retail outfit for the company saw revenues increase 23 per cent to £82 million (€97m) on the previous quarter. However, excluding the impact of new shops and currency movements that increase was less modest and grew by 16 per cent.
