LONDON (Alliance News) - Paddy Power Betfair PLC on Monday said it expects to report underlying earnings at around the mid-point of its previously guided range, notwithstanding worse-than-expected gross win margins in November and December.
The bookmaker said that revenue rose by 18% in 2016 to GBP1.55 billion from GBP1.32 billion in 2015, or by 11% at constant exchange rates.
As a result, Paddy Power Betfair now expects group underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be at the mid-point of its previously guided range of GBP390 million to GBP405 million.
Paddy Power Betfair said that, since its third quarter update in November, it had continued to see good sportsbook staking growth, but "results favoured customers", pointing to the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the US election, which it said had cost it almost GBP5 million.
Additionally, its European sportsbooks lost money on football bets in December.
Paddy Power Betfair estimates that the hit to revenue from these "customer-friendly results" was around GBP40 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, although lower than expected marketing and staff costs helped mitigate the hit to profit.
The company will report its results for 2016 on March 7.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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