SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Having returned €392 million (£285 million) to shareholders, Paddy Power’s new CEO Andy McCue has outlined his first strategic priorities since taking over from Patrick Kennedy on 2 January 2015.
The positive start to McCue’s reign as CEO, sees Paddy Power hand shareholders €8 a share, on top of a 13% increase in full year dividends. The cash return to investors is equivalent to more than 10% of the market value of the operator, and sees Paddy Power gain a cash position of 1x EBITDA.
Further positives sees Paddy Power labelled as one of the best performing European stocks in the past five months by Reuters UK.
Paddy Power senior management have outlined organic growth as key to the operator’s long term strategy, as the operator prepares for a tough 2015 where it will face new hurdles caused by increased UK POC tax charges and increased competition.
McCue, the former head of Paddy Power’s UK and Irish retail operations, said a business reorganisation would include a moderation in headcount growth, with economies of scale set to fund increased in-house product development.
Paddy Power will look to review its product inventory in the coming months, as the operator looks for differentiation in a crowded market place. This was a particular concern for the operator which had seen new products fail to expand on Facebook.
Furthermore McCue has stated that the operator will reviews its Italian business division which was seeing slower growth than anticipated
Paddy Power have commenced 2015 positively with sports betting wagering up 18% and retail betting up 8%
