Bookmaker raises outlook for full-year earnings growth

BOOKMAKER Paddy Power raised its outlook for full-year earnings growth yesterday, highlighting the strong growth of its online and mobile services and sending its shares to a record high.

“Despite difficult economic conditions, the structural growth drivers behind online betting (and) betting on mobile are so strong that we have been able to grow strongly despite the challenges of recession,” Paddy Power finance director Jack Massey told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The company said that it expected full-year earnings per share to rise by 15% to 20% year-on-year after its online gross win — winnings before expenses — to mid-November rose by 28% compared with the same period last year.