Paddy Power, Ireland's leading gambling group, with a strong presence
in England, has shown its financial report for the second half of 2008.
The company reported a 5% increase in operating profits to a very impressive
£67.8 million.
UK players, especially, impacted Paddy Power's profits significantly as the
company said that they made up for 50% of its profits.
Despite poor economic conditions around the globe, Paddy Power still managed
to go ahead with its plans to open its first UK store out of the greater London
area and recently cut the ribbon of its first betting store in Scotland.
Another area where Paddy Power shone in 2008 was through its online gambling
products. Profits from this industry rose a staggering 34%.
Yet, despite these excellent figures, Paddy Power said that next year's
profits would show the results of the current economic conditions and the group
expected profits to be reduced by up to £7 million. The tax increases in
Ireland would also affect profits, it was predicted.
"The group faces a number of headwinds again in 2009 as has already been
reflected in consensus expectations," said the Chief Executive Officer of Paddy
Power, Patrick Kennedy. "In that context, the year has got off to a satisfactory
start and we remain confident of the group's prospects."
"The results in the second half of 2008 also demonstrate the success of our
strategy of geographic and channel expansion," added Kennedy, "with online
operating profit accounting for over 70% of group profitability and profits from
UK customers almost half of group profitability."
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