Paddy Power's Profits Prediction

Bookmaker, Paddy Power, has said it is on track to record profits of around €75m for this year. In a trading update, the company said this assumed a 'normal run' of sporting results. Paddy Power said this would translate into earnings growth of 10% for the full year, despite a €5m hit to profits from a weaker sterling. The bookmaker said deteriorating economic conditions were affecting its business, but it was responding by tightly managing costs. It also said online betting now accounted for over 60% of its profits, but turnover in betting shops has declined. It said the increase in betting tax announced in the Budget would hit its profits by €9m/€10m next year. Paddy Power was created by the 1988 merger of three bookmakers and expanded beyond Ireland in 2000, when it first bought a UK outlet. Britain's biggest bookie, Ladbrokes, reported a 2% fall in revenues from bets placed at the window in the four months to the end of October, as it revealed the amounts being staked are falling.