Online bookmaker and casino Paddy Power has reported that the twenty weeks prior to May 15th saw sporting results that boosted profits and confidence in future growth.
In a statement released to shareholders, the company reported that they, '... now expect operating profit of approximately €58 million ($78 million) in 2007. This result would represent underlying operating profit growth compared to 2006 of approximately 27 percent.'
This forecast is 8 percent above that of industry analysts, and may also be linked to the proposed launch this summer of paddypowertrader.com, for online financial spread betting. However, solid figures behind the forecast include the significant growth of online poker and casino games as well as online bingo.
While the migration to the Playtech platform has also seen a slow-down in poker’s growth, Paddy Power has been quick to respond and will shortly launch a number of initiatives designed to push growth back up to previous levels.
Though the numbers of sportsbook users were overestimated, turnover had been underestimated with an increase of 12 percent on last year’s figures.
