Betfair boosted by tennis bonanza

Britain's Betfair took £50 million (€60 million) of bets on the marathon Australian Open tennis final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, highlighting the growing popularity of in-play gaming on major sporting events.

Horse racing was also a driver of growth, with races such as Kauto Star's victory in the King George VI Chase on St Stephen's Day stimulating renewed interest in the sport, the world's biggest betting exchange said today.

"We had our best-ever Australian Open, which culminated in almost £50 million of bets being placed on the final," said acting chief executive Stephen Morana.

Betfair, founded 12 years ago by one-time professional gambler Andrew Black and former JP Morgan trader Ed Wray, reported an 11 per cent rise in third-quarter revenue to £85.3 million, topping a consensus forecast for £84.8 million.

The company has struggled since it listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2010, seeing its share price fall by a third on the back of intensifying competition from rivals such as William Hill and concerns over the tightening of gambling laws in some parts of Europe.

It has responded with the launch of a marketing campaign, Don't settle for less, drawing attention to the better odds that it offers gamblers compared with bookmakers.

"We're going back to basics. We've simply gone for the value message. Before you place a bet, why don't you check out Betfair, because we believe that in many, many instances we have better value than the competition," Mr Morana said.

Betfair acts as an intermediary between gamblers wanting to place a bet or offer odds to others, taking a commission on their wins and generally offering better odds than traditional bookmakers which take bets directly from customers.

Yesterday, the company launched Betfair Everywhere, which enables customers who download the programme to see Betfair odds appear against those of other betting firms when they visit competitors' websites.

"Early signs are encouraging. Some of the early signs around lapsed customers coming back are very strong," Mr Morana said.

Mr Morana, the company's finance director, is holding the chief executive role on a temporary basis ahead of the arrival of Breon Corcoran, who will join the company in August from bookmaker Paddy Power.

The company also confirmed Ed Wray would step down as chairman to be replaced by ex-Railtrack chief executive and city veteran Gerald Corbett.

Shares in Betfair, which have risen by 45 per cent in the past six months, were down 0.6 per cent at 880 pence earlier.