Paddy Power Betfair shareholders back company rebrand

Shareholders in Paddy Power Betfair have overwhelmingly voted in favour of plans to rebrand the gambling operator as Flutter Entertainment.

Votes were cast at the group’s Annual General Meeting, with 99.76% of the total votes cast backing the proposed measure.

Paddy Power Betfair set out plans to rebrand the business upon announcing its financial results for 2018 back in March, when it revealed year-on-year revenue growth of 7% to £1.9bn (€2.18bn/$2.44bn).

Shareholders also voted to approve all other measures set out at this week’s AGM, including the declaration of a final dividend for 2018 of 133 pence per ordinary share.

CEO Peter Jackson was cleared for re-election as a director, as were a number of other senior members of staff, such as chairman Gary McGann.

Earlier this month, Paddy Power Betfair revealed that it was able to follow up on a positive performance in 2018 by posting further growth in the first quarter of the current year.

Revenue for the three months to March 31, 2019, rose to £478m, up 17% on the same period in 2018. This comprised £366m in sports revenue, up 15% year-on-year, and revenue of £113m from gaming, a 26% increase.