Paddy Power’s €800m windfall

Paddy Power is expected to continue to return surplus cash to shareholders over the coming years — with the figure potentially reaching €800m.

Earlier this month, when reporting a record set of annual financial results for 2014, the Dublin-based betting services giant announced it plans to return €392m — roughly 12% of its current market value — to shareholders this year as it has not identified attractive enough acquisition and investment opportunities or other uses for surplus cash.

Shareholders are due to vote on the capital return plan at the company’s May AGM, but management has already said it is “very confident” the move will not compromise its future growth.