Andy Murray helps make Betfair a winner

Internet gambling firm Betfair said betting on Euro 2012 and Andy Murray's Wimbledon final had helped drive up revenues in the first quarter.

Internet gambling firm Betfair said betting on Euro 2012 and Andy Murray's Wimbledon final had helped drive up revenues in the first quarter.

The firm said revenue in the three months to the end of July was up 13% to £91.6m, led by betting on sports, where revenue was up 21%.

The Euro 2012 football tournament pulled in £7.8m, while Betfair said Andy Murray's first Wimbledon final led to the match becoming its biggest ever market, with over £58 million of bets.

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These results off-set a fall in its Games and Poker arms, which were hit by new regulations in Italy, Cyprus and Spain, causing revenues to drop 7% and 4% respectively.

In Europe the firm said it had suffered a hit of about £3m due to extra regulation.

"We expect that the on-going impact from these regulatory changes on revenue will be around £1.5m per month on a run-rate basis," Betfair said.

It mobile gaming offering continued to grow, with the number of bets placed increased by 114% to 15.8m and revenue almost doubling to £8.2m.

However, in the second quarter to date, net gaming revenue was down 2% compared to the same period in the prior year.

Like-for-like revenue, adjusting for the impact of regulation, was marginally higher and was in line with expectations for the year to date, Betfair said.