Paddy Power online profits leap 10%
Australia business provides profits boost as a significant loss in Italy hits European profit growth
Paddy Power has reported strong revenue increases in both online gaming and sportsbook for the full year ended 31 December 2013, leading to an increase in digital profits of 10%.
However a significant increase in spending “ notably a loss of some 16.8m in Italy “ saw the Irish operator post just a 1% rise in online profits when excluding its Australian business.
Total group online revenues grew 15% to 472.9m, driven by a 16% jump in sports betting revenues and a 15% rise in egaming. Some 79% of group profits derived from the online channels, the operator said this morning in a statement.
Meanwhile revenues from Australian-facing Sportsbet rose 15% to 179.6m, as profits increased 9% to 33.5m, stakes by 25% and active customers by 30%.
The operator again highlighted its progress in the mobile channel, which contributed 45% of total online revenue, or 212m, an increase of 73% in compared to the previous 12 months.
Paddys CEO Patrick Kennedy (pictured) claimed the operator was outperforming competitors when it comes to online gaming, citing increased investment in in-house developed mobile products, including new Games and Casino tablet apps.
He added that the company added 200 new games last year, of which over 60% are mobile games and 35% are exclusive Paddy Power proprietary games.
“Tablet devices will be central to future growth in mobile with their penetration amongst consumers having more than doubled in the UK last year,” said Kennedy. “Further product initiatives this year will present a more ‘joined up’ experience across retail and online channels to serve multi-channel consumers.”
The operator continues to invest heavily in the Italian market, where it launched in 2012 at a cost of more than 20m.
It said that brand awareness of Paddy Power has increased to 30% as compared to 20% a year ago, and that its share of the online sports betting market grew to 10% in the first two months of 2014, versus 5% at the start of 2013.
“In addition, we over-index in the fastest growing part of the market, with mobile accounting for almost half of our amounts staked last month, versus an estimated industry average in Italy of 30%,” added Kennedy.