LONDON (Alliance News) - Irish bookmaker Paddy Power PLC on Wednesday said trading in 2015 met it expectations and it anticipates its operating profit will rise year-on-year.
Paddy Power said it expects its operating profit before exceptional items, stripping out any costs related to its merger with FTSE 250-listed rival Betfair Group PLC, will be around EUR180.0 million for 2015.
That would compare to the EUR163.8 million operating profit it posted a year earlier.
The group also said it will pay a final dividend for the year of EUR1.20 per share, compared to EUR1.02 a year earlier, meaning its total dividend payout will rise to EUR1.80, up from EUR1.52.
Paddy Power added that its expects its merger with Betfair to complete on February 2 and will publish its annual results on March 8. It noted the record date for the final dividend will be on February 1, the day before the merger completes
Shares in the company were up 0.6% at EUR132.31 on Wednesday morning.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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