Irish bookmaker Paddy Power's operating profit down 14% in first half of the year

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power's operating profit fell by 14 percent to 60.1 million euros (79.2 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, according to the company's interim results on Thursday.
The betting firm attributed the decrease to a run of unfavorable sports results.
"Very poor sports results, as compared with favorable results last year, had a gross impact of approximately 35 million euros year-on-year, resulting in an 8 percent decrease in net revenue and a 44 percent decrease in operating profit," said the firm.
But it expected a strong start to the second half of the year with group net revenue up 45 percent, saying that the second half of the year had started well after a successful FIFA World Cup, with a rebound in sports results.
"We had a cracking World Cup which generated stakes of almost 200 million euros, 130 percent ahead of the previous tournament. Australia continues to power ahead and Italy has made significant progress," said Paddy Power Chief Executive Patrick Kennedy.
The firm said it had gained 795,000 new customers in the six month period, 148,000 of those during the FIFA World Cup.
Its online active customer numbers grew by 25 percent to 1.8 million and Australia now accounts for almost 40 percent of the firm's profit, according to the interim results.
The firm said its British retail operating profit grew by 26 percent to 9.5 million euros during the first six months. Like-for-like net revenue were up 5 percent.
It also said Irish retail operating profit were up 13 percent to 8.6 million euros. Like-for-like stakes were up 5 percent and net revenue up 2 percent. (1 euro = 1.32 dollars)