Paddy Power bets on Man Utd shares

Paddy Power taking bets on how the departure of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will affect the club's shares by the end of the year.

The bookmaker is offering odds of 8/11 that the share price will be above $18.50 by the end of the year, and odds that it will fall below that level are even.

Owned by the American Glazer family, Manchester United debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in August last year, with shares priced at $14.

After an initial dip to $12 in September, shares recovered to hit a high of $19.34 in February.

The club claims to have more than 650 million followers worldwide and has signed a series of local and international sponsorship deals to cash in on its global fame. Revenues in the three months to March rose almost 30 pe rcent to £91.7 million, with the commercial sector which includes sponsorship showing the strongest growth. Profit before charges such as interest and tax was ahead of forecasts at £25 million

Additional reporting: Reuters.