Betfred gallops to £13bn turnover

Fred Done

INDEPENDENT North West betting company Betfred said it had defied a number of challenges to report successful financial figures.

The Warrington-based company founded with one shop in Salford in 1967 has changed its year-end so the results for the 18 months to the end of September 2014 are difficult to compare with the previous 12 month figures.

Turnover in the period was £13.3bn (£8bn in the 12 months to Match 2013) and EBITDA £102m (£69m in 2013).

Betfred, which now has nearly 1,400 shops and employs 10,000 staff, said turnover at its online business Betfred.com was £1.9bn in the period.

John Haddock, who was appointed chief executive of Betfred last summer, said: “Although we have faced increased taxation, regulation and a very competitive market place we are delighted to report a positive set of results.

“We are pleased to continue our support for racing and once again we have over- delivered on our promise to the government when we acquired the Tote and delivered £19.1m in direct contributions.

“This together with our levy payments equates to a total payment to racing of £37.7m in the 18 month period and we are proud to continue to be one of racing’s biggest sponsors.

“Our estate of just under 1,400 betting shops continues to perform well and there’s been major improvement in our online and mobile offerings.”

The company said it had cut net debt by £68m to £145m in the period and in the same time-frame made a total contribution to the Exchequer of £158.7m.

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