Paddy Power reports strong growth in H1

During the first half of 2017, Paddy Power generated £827m (€913.4m/$1.08bn) in revenue, up 9% on the £759m posted in the corresponding period last year.

According to the company, the increase was driven by “good stakes growth” with online bets up 10%.

EBITDA came in at £220m, which represents a 21% hike on the first half of 2016, while operating profit also jumped 22% y-o-y to £180m.

Paddy Power Betfair also pointed out that earnings per share climbed 23% to 181.1p, with dividends per share up 25% from 52p to 65p.

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For the full year, the firm expects underlying EBITDA to come in at between £445m and £446m, including £15m of losses in DRAFT.

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The trading update comes after Paddy Power Betfair yesterday announced that Breon Corcoran is to step down from his role as chief executive of the company.

Commenting on the first-half results, Breon Corcoran, who’s stepping down from Paddy Power Betfair, said, “We continue to make substantial investments to position Paddy Power Betfair as a structural winner in a dynamic and highly competitive market.

“The focus of this investment is to use technology to improve efficiency and minimise the cost of servicing our customers and to further enhance our customer proposition.

“The integration of our technology platforms is on track for completion by the end of the year and will bring significant benefits including increased quantity and pace of new product development in 2018 and beyond.

“Ahead of that, our customers and shareholders are already seeing benefits from efficiencies and investments. In the first half alone, customers enjoyed approximately £30m of extra value through better odds, more generous offers and new loyalty benefits.

“Operating efficiency and the annualisation of merger-related cost savings resulted in strong operating leverage in the period, with operating profit up 22%.”