Commission rate between 4% - 7.5% ??????

Looks like they will want more money from their customers.Extending the market specific commisions for another 18 months.


Unveiling its full-year results, Betfair said the trial had been extended to a further 18 countries.
Breon Corcoran, chief executive, said exchange customers had an “emotional sensitivity” to changes in the commission rate, but that “some are more sensitive than others”.
He said: “We are trying to build this business in a sustainable way . . . The initial experiment went well, but we are very wary of extrapolating too rapidly.”
Betfair made an underlying profit of £38m, down from £52m a year earlier.

TAKEN FROM TODAYS FT

Betfair has extended trials on varying the commission it charges betting exchange customers, as it looks to make up revenues lost from pulling out of unregulated markets.
The betting group, which takes a 5 per cent commission on the exchange, began the trial in five international markets, varying the rate to between 4 per cent and 7.5 per cent.

Unveiling its full-year results, Betfair said the trial had been extended to a further 18 countries.

Breon Corcoran, chief executive, said exchange customers had an “emotional sensitivity” to changes in the commission rate, but that “some are more sensitive than others”.

He said: “We are trying to build this business in a sustainable way . . . The initial experiment went well, but we are very wary of extrapolating too rapidly.”

Betfair made an underlying profit of £38m, down from £52m a year earlier.

The impact of its strategic shift announced last year, which involved withdrawing from markets where the regulatory environment was uncertain, had been a “significant drag” on revenues, it said.

It now has 75 per cent of revenues from regulated markets, and Mr Corcoran said he expected that figure to increase as Betfair reviewed markets “case by case”.

It is looking to attract new customers with a standalone website offering traditional fixed-odds betting, aping other high street bookmakers.

Ivor Jones, Numis analyst, said varying the commission rate “has the potential to materially enhance exchange revenue, but also to reduce it. We expect management to take some time before committing to a new pricing structure.”

The group posted a pre-tax loss of £49m, compared with a profit of £54m a year earlier. Sales were broadly stable at £387m. The loss per share was 65.1p (profit of 33.1p).

The loss was largely caused by an £82m impairment of asset values, including charges relating to the weaker-than-expected outlook for acquired businesses, as well as a writedown of the value of its technology.

The company also took a £19m restructuring charge and spent almost £3m on advisory fees related to the rejected a takeover approach from private equity group CVC.

Betfair promised shareholders it would devote proceeds from its cash balance of £168m to acquisitions.

“We have some capability gaps, we have a lot to learn about sports betting and gaming, and while we have good scale in the UK we are relatively smaller in most of the other markets,” said Mr Corcoran.

A final dividend of 9p per share has been proposed, making a total of 13p for the year, up from 10.2p a year earlier.

The shares rose 1.57 per cent to close at 843p on Thursday.

Separately, second-quarter trading at Playtech was slightly ahead of the 10 per cent increase reported in April, the gambling software provider said.

if it gets to 7.5% will the last person to leave please turn off the lights

Betfair promised shareholders it would devote proceeds from its cash balance of £168m to acquisitions.





you'll not get much for that,




7.5 % ? why not round it up to 10 % like the bookies used to do ?

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

In Bulgaria the default Market Base Rate is 7.5%
In Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, and Romania the default Market Base Rate is 6.5%
In Argentina, Belarus, Columbia, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan , Luxembourg, Mexico, and Singapore the default Market Base Rate is 6%
In Norway and Finland the default Market Base Rate is 5.5%

http://en.learning.betfair.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2684

betting on french racing, in france the deductions are about 30 %

where is it 4%?

BF really are trying to get every last drop out of the system as quick as they can.  As expressed above this can only lead to further tumbleweed and bigger spreads as more customers decide not to bother.

The only conclusion is that the increase from 5 countries to 18 means the UK will follow suit probably this time next year on a 6-7.5% rate.  That has to be their goal.

TheVis, Betfair don't have one goal.  The shareholders want an increase in equity value, perhaps an increase in dividends, and sustainability.  The CEO's contract looks like it favours short termism.  It does seem logical for the CEO with that contract to increase commission sharply, and never look at ever moving any price down, but it also seems logical for non-burger flipper shareholders to be far more wary of the time delayed dampening effect upon revenues which the higher commission rate will unarguably lead to.

Bulgaria deserves to be punished, after the incident on Wimbledon common with Madame Cholet and Miss Adelaide.

im beginning to lose interest now.

give it 2 or 3 years and the exchange probably wont even exist. they seem hell bent on killing it.

If I have to pay 60%, it's only fair that the rest of you dimwits have to pay at least 7.5%. 

Hazel, You will be paying the same as us in two years when we have no exchange. A BIG FAT 0%

They won't have any customers left.

7.5% is ok if they got rid of the PC.

5% was too high. 7.5% is just plain insulting.

From 2004-2007 95% of my betting was on here. From 2007-2012 I reduced it gradually down to less than 20%.

Today it is 5%.  There must be tons of people like me jumping ship. They are cutting their own throats slowly with a rusty knife. It is business suicide.

Other Exchange 3% flat.

hazel.

First they came....