Paddy Power shares slump on results

Shares in Paddy Power Betfair have actually fallen by about 5% after the bookmaker unveiled frustrating first-quarter results.

The company's underlying operating profit was up to ₤ 80m, compared to ₤ 91m for the exact same period in 2017.

It blamed bad weather in March for lower incomes from horseracing after 14% of UK and Irish races were cancelled.

New wagering taxes and start-up losses in the US also took their toll.

The company stated it was preparing to return ₤ 350m of cash to shareholders in the next 12 to 18 months, with a share buyback programme to be initiated shortly.

Paddy Power Betfair opened 3 new stores in the UK and 2 in Ireland during the quarter, taking its total to 631.

'Good progress'

The business stated group profits was down 2% at ₤ 408m for the quarter,

Growth in football betting was balanced out by "weak point in horseracing, which was adversely impacted by the high level of weather-related cancellations".

It anticipates full-year revenues to come in at between ₤ 470m and ₤ 485m.

"We have made excellent progress versus our tactical top priorities," stated president Peter Jackson.

"In Europe, the effective completion of our platform combination has actually led to a meaningful improvement to the Paddy Power product.

"In Australia, Sportsbet continues to carry out well and is targeting further market share growth."

"Weather is a huge aspect in our industry and the awful start to this promotion code year has affected lots of companies, not just the yohaig code bookmakers. It is not unexpected that profits have actually slumped, however the real test will be through the spring and summertime," said Andy Bell from Bettingodds.com, external.

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