MANY PUNTERS in the grandstands at next week’s Cheltenham Festival will be backing horses via smartphone apps rather than joining the scrum in the betting ring.
And it’s an odds-on chance that the Paddy Power app will be one of the more popular among the 50,000 to 60,000 Irish and British racing fans who will gather for the annual showdown in the Cotswolds. The Irish bookie was the first to develop and launch a smartphone app, and 49 per cent of its 900,000-plus active customers use it.
From the outset Paddy Power was equally quick to embrace the internet, and it is that which has been central in turning the company from a chain of Irish bookie shops with a website to an international business whose operations include retailing here and in Britain.
It has businesses in Ireland, Britain, Australia and Bulgaria, where it bought internet games developer Cayetano last November. In addition, it has partnerships with the French Pari Mutuel (the French tote) and British Columbia’s lottery operator in Canada, which is due to go live this year.
The online businesses consist of Paddypower.com, in Ireland and Britain, and Sportsbet in Australia, along with Bulgaria and the Pari Mutuel deal.
Australia contributed €107 million to net revenues, and just short of €23 million to operating profits. The other internet businesses added €199 million to net revenues and €74 million to operating profits.
All other businesses grew, except the one with which the group was most closely identified from the outset, the Irish bookie shops. Operating profits here fell 38 per cent to €11 million from €17.6 million. The company blames adverse racing results for this, in particular last year’s Cheltenham Festival which featured a record 13 Irish winners.
Early in Paddy Power’s history as a listed company a run of fancied Irish winners at Cheltenham would have meant a significant hit on net revenues and profits. Thanks to the group’s spread of businesses, last year’s poor results had a barely noticeable impact on either.
