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Paddy Power picks up World Cup windfall

By Etain Lavelle for MailOnline
Updated: 04:00 EDT, 26 August 2010

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Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker with a eye for quirky bets, said it will blast through current full-year forecasts after making a killing at the World Cup.

Paddy Power: Taking bets on Michael O'Leary's future

Losing punters contributed some £15m to Paddy Power's coffers at this summer's month-long jamboree, helping to boost the bookmakers' firsthalf pretax profit by 54% to £43m.

It said: 'After suffering last year as a result of Irish rugby's clean sweep of Northern Hemisphere silverware, we managed to keep a few shillings in the biscuit tin this season as Irish teams lost their Grand Slam, Heineken Cup and Magners League title.'

However trading in Ireland remains under pressure as the country struggles to ride out the worst recession on record, sparked by the collapse of the housing market.

'Ireland is a difficult place to be at the moment,' chief operating officer Breon Corcoran said.

Still, he added that the environment is stabilising and Paddy Power is helping to lift the gloom by offering odds on the likelihood of Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary becoming the next president of the Republic - or an agony uncle.

The bookmaker is also taking share from the operators who have had to shut down shops.

Corcoran said that almost all of the group's growth is in the UK, where it intends to open a further 30 to 40 shops this year.

By the end of 2011, the bookmaker will 'easily surpass' the targeted 150 shops it hopes to open here.

'The UK and Australian markets are quite exciting,' Corcoran told the Mail.

Looking ahead, Paddy Power is expecting to flush out punters for the forthcoming Ryder Cup and Melbourne Cup horse race.

Shares in Paddy Power rose 0.13p at 26.5p.

'Yet again the group has delivered a solid set of figures while its peer group (both on and offline) struggles,' Nick Batram, analyst at KBC Peel Hunt said.

He lifted pretax estimates for the full year to £77m, and upgraded the stock to a 'buy' from 'hold' following the numbers which beat his expectations.

Greg Johnson at Shore Capital was equally bullish.

He said: 'We retain our "buy" stance noting the balance sheet strength, continued strong growth online, the option to acquire the remaining 39% of the fast-growing Australian operation and the rapid rollout momentum in UK retail.'

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