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the analysts start to attack Betfair valuation

There was an article yesterday behind the FT paywall attacking the valuation of Betfair and its growth prospects. This essentially echoed my thoughts in various posts here and discussions with a couple of investment firms. I don't see the price crashing, but I do think that growth prospects are limited in the short-term. Their big upshot will be if one of the biggest nations in the world opens up, such as China, India or the US. Don't hold your breath though, that might take a while.

Betfair reply to analyst’s unfavourable share forecast

After picking up three awards at the eGR Awards on Wednesday night, narrowly missing out on the Operator of the Year award, it’s neigh-on definite that attending on behalf Betfair will have left you quite the hangover to deal with. This will have been made significantly worse by a news item published on FT.com yesterday morning – something that isn’t curable by a Bloody Mary.

After the founders floated it last month, Betfair’s stock was put on the market for £13-a-share and the company valued at around £1.3bn. It hasn’t impressed certain market professionals, which led Investec analyst Paul Leyland to comment: “Betfair is approaching maturity in the UK, faces significant regulatory threats elsewhere, and will gain little traction in financials.

“Betfair needs a liberal tax and regulatory approach to online gambling in order to operate, let alone to thrive. We see this as increasingly unlikely in any major market.”


Betfair, of course, refuted the argument but he makes perfect sense in my opinion....

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