Betfair clients are far more certain Scottish voters will vote “No” in the referendum in a fortnight than the latest opinion polls have suggested.
“The odds on a ‘No’ vote have come in from 1-4 to 1-3 in the past two to three weeks,” said chief executive Breon Corcoran.
“That’s a bit of a drift but still overwhelmingly confident. Our clients tend to get it right. There’s a difference between what people tell pollsters and the hard-headed decisions they take with their money.”
So far, the Betfair market on the Scottish vote is worth about £3.5 million compared with £50 million for the Wimbledon Men’s Final. But Corcoran believes activity will step up over the remaining days.
The firm had a bumper first quarter driven by the World Cup, with revenues up 30% to £117 million and headline earnings up 39% to £34.5 million.
World Cup revenues were £15.9 million — double those of Euro 2012. Results there and in the Premier League largely went in the bookies’ favour.
Betfair shares gained 30p to 1125p.
