Paddy Power Betfair announced that on close of trading on the London Stock Exchange on the 9th of October that the value of their shares had dropped from 9,024.9p on the 31st of May down to 6,175p, which is roughly a 33% drop in a 6 month period. The shares had stood at 6,510 on the 8th of October.
Rise in tax
This follows on from the announcement of the Irish Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe that both online and retail betting will be increased to 2%, taking effect from the 1st of January 2019. There will also be a rise in the gambling exchange duty which was previously set at 15%, this will now be increased to 25%.
Paddy Power Betfair estimates that will cost them a potential €23m, if this year’s figures were anything to go by. There have been numerous warnings from other gambling companies that this latest move would kill the industry. A vast number of shops could close down resulting in around 1500 job losses. It remains to be see what effect this will have on other operators such as GVC Holdings and William Hill.