Paddy Power to create 500 jobs over next three years

BOOKMAKER PADDY Power plans to create 500 jobs in its Irish business over the next three years to support its international online betting business.

The company said yesterday that the jobs were part of plans to create 1,440 new posts across the group’s Irish, Australian and British operations.

Paddy Power also predicted yesterday that the business would generate earnings per share growth of between 35 per cent and 40 per cent this year, subject to volatility in sports results.

The company intends to hire a further 375 people to work at its headquarters in Tallaght, Dublin, mainly in risk management, technology, on-line marketing and other roles linked to the development of its internet business.

In a statement it said yesterday it was seeking 86 people immediately.

It plans to create a further 125 jobs in its bookmaker shops around the State. It also plans to continue to expand its retail business here, bringing its Irish workforce to 2,200 by the end of 2013.

Paddy Power is also hiring 810 new people to work in its UK betting shops. It has 121 outlets there and expects to expand this to 250 at the end of 2013, by which time the company’s UK retail business will have overtaken that of the Republic.

The group has online, retail and telephone betting operations in Ireland and Britain, an online business in Australia, and it provides risk management and other services for the France’s Pari-Mutuel (PMU), the country’s state-owned betting pool.

In Australia, the Irish company holds a majority stake in Sportsbet, the country’s biggest corporate online operator. It is hiring 140 to facilitate the expansion of this business.

Chief executive Patrick Kennedy said the global gaming business was worth €335 billion but, as only about 7 per cent of this is currently online, this is the part of the business that is set to expand. He said the Irish company has to position itself to exploit that.

The company also released a management statement yesterday saying that its international and UK businesses had continued to grow in line with expectations, but that Irish economic conditions have became more challenging between July and November.