Paddy Power strengthens mobile lead

Paddy Power’s revenues from mobile sports betting have more than doubled in 2013 to account for 42% of its entire business, the Irish operator has revealed.

Chairman Nigel Northridge said the company’s “industry leading” position in sports betting on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, which was up 112% in the period from 1 January to 12 May, had complemented the strengths of Paddy Power’s flagship online arm and online-only Australia division, where it operates under the Sportsbet brand.

Italy, where Paddy Power operates online sports betting and online casino within the ring-fenced dot.it market, contributed 3% of the 30% growth of online during the period.

CEO Patrick Kennedy was however forced to defend the company’s Italian foray at the company’s AGM yesterday, in the wake of a downgrade by Dublin-based Davy Stockbrokers last month which wiped €150m off the share price, since largely recovered.

Kennedy told shareholders that he disagreed with the conclusion of analysts David Jennings and Simon McGrotty that Paddy Power faced diminishing margins from its UK and Irish business, and that it would take longer to become profitable in Italy than originally projected.

The Paddy Power boss insisted that the Italian market remained a strong prospect, arguing that rising broadband penetration and the company’s mastery of social media would help support growth, according to Independent.ie.

The company accounted for 6% of the €23m in gross gaming revenue generated by Italian punters on nationally regulated sites in March 2013, according to regulator AAMS’ figures, making it the sixth largest operator in the market. Its share of the €20.4m online casino segment was just 1.49% however.

Article written by Stephen Carter