Betfair, the publicly quoted gambling exchange which facilitates punters placing bets with each other has announced a stronger than expected rise in pre-tax profits for the year to the end of April of £120m – an increase of more than 30 percent.

The firm, which employs 150 people at its commercial and marketing base in Dublin, said the number of Irish customers rose by 50 percent during the period as part of an overall 65 percent increase in its customer base to 1.7 million.

Betfair, which is led by Irish chief executive, Breon Corcoran and which fought off a £1bn takeover bid from a private equity firm two years ago, says it has over £100m to pursue acquisitions and is likely to target southern European countries such as Italy and Spain. It spent £47m earlier this year on the American horse racing television network, HRTV.

Meanwhile, Boylesports says it considering its position regarding a possible bid for Ladbrokes bookmaker stores in Ireland having failed to secure a High Court order directing the examiner to Ladbrokes with information which Boyles claim was necessary for it to make a competitive bid.