Sustainable revenues up 9%, with growth across all products
Sustainable mix now 78% of Group revenues (from 72% in FY13)
Underlying EBITDA up 24% to £91.1m
Underlying free cash flow up 40% to £70.4m and year-end cash of £209.8m
Number of customers in sustainable markets up 27%
Mobile revenue up 70% and in Q4 represented 64% of Sportsbook revenues
Significant new products introduced: Cash Out+ and Price Rush
Betfair US revenue up 20%, with improved TVG profitability offset by New Jersey online casino investment
Licensed exchanges launched in Italy and Bulgaria
Proposed full year dividend up 54% to 20.0 pence per share
Breon Corcoran, Betfair's Chief Executive Officer, said:
"Our strategy is working. The emphasis on sustainable revenues and our product and marketing investments are paying off, resulting in record revenues and profits.
The focus in FY14 was on creating a competitive Sportsbook and we are now entering an exciting phase of product development to leverage both our Exchange and Sportsbook to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Betfair has always been a unique betting company and our innovative sports betting products such as Cash Out and Price Rush are redefining the ways customers bet.
Cash Out+ builds on the success of our Cash Out feature which allows customers to lock in profits before the conclusion of an event and has been used over 30 million times. This enhancement allows customers to partially cash out their bets and further differentiates our product.
Price Rush is the first step of integrating our Exchange and Sportsbook and allows the odds on certain Sportsbook bets to be boosted by using the superior value available on the Exchange. Over 500,000 bets have been 'Rushed' so far and on average the odds on these bets were boosted by 24%.
The introduction of the Sportsbook, increased television advertising spend and the strengthening of our online marketing capability have broadened our customer reach and led to a 54% increase in the number of customers acquired in the UK and Ireland. As a result, we have seen three consecutive quarters of double digit revenue growth in sustainable markets.
Our focus on efficiency has allowed operating margin expansion at the same time as increasing marketing and technology investment to approximately £200m.
The flexibility we retain through our strong balance sheet provides a competitive advantage during uncertain times for the gaming sector. We will continue to review our balance sheet on a regular basis.
We believe the differentiation of our products and uniqueness of our model give us a real competitive advantage. Our strong trading has continued into the new financial year and we look forward to building on this positive momentum during the World Cup that kicks off tomorrow and which will be an excellent showcase for our market leading products."
