Agreeing with corporate expectations, and despite unfavorable sports reports, between July 1 and November 15, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power posted a 9 percent net revenue increase with a 23 percent increase in online sports betting wagering and a 7 percent rise in online net revenues. Its Australian online betting division posted total revenue increases of 43 percent and net revenue rose by 33 percent. New customer acquisitions were up 22 percent in the post-World Cup period. The betting-in-running-channel telephone division grew by 38 percent.
Group retail operations betting increased 12 percent and total division net revenues rose 7 percent. UK retail posted a 5 percent like-for-like sportsbook growth but like-for-like sportsbook net revenue dropped by 8 percent due to negative sports results. Like-for-like machine gaming net revenue grew 6 percent. Irish retail like-for-like revenue rose 8 percent and net revenue by 4 percent.
Total revenue for Paddy Power’s UK and Irish online business fell by 9 percent but new customer acquisition was up 20 percent, sportsbook revenue rose 11 percent and eGaming revenue was up 6 percent. In Italy, online revenue increased 3 percent based on strong growth in eGaming.
Regarding its planned merger with Betfair Plc, Paddy Power officers said the company had begun regulatory filings with the UK CMA and Ireland’s Irish Competition & Consumer Protection Commission.
As of November 15th, Paddy Power had net debt of $1.07 million, equal to about half of its 2014 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.
