Ireland’s Paddy Power continued to build its retail market share in the first six months of the year.
The company opened 19 new betting shops in the UK, taking its estate to 228, and a further seven in Ireland during the period. It intends to open at least 40 shops annually in the UK in the “current environment.”
In the UK, like-for-like net revenue rose three per cent and operating profit increased €0.3m to €7.8m, despite the impact of Machine Games Duty. In Ireland, meanwhile, like-for-like stakes were up two per cent but unfavourable sports results saw operating profit fall €1.5m to €7.6m.
Paddy Power’s shops in the UK reported machine gaming net revenue of €29.1m, up from €26.4m for the same period last year. Although describing the period as “challenging” for machine gaming performance as a result of terminal trials, competition and weaker consumer demand, the company is nonetheless confident of improved fixed odds betting terminal performance in the second half of the year. This, it said, will be the result of new cabinets and the optimisation of its loyalty scheme.
Following a new contract with Inspired Gaming, Paddy Power will be the first operator to trial its new Eclipse cabinet and have the option to roll out that cabinet across is full estate by the end of the year.
