The new Chief Executive Officer of Paddy Power – Mr. Andy McCue – has revealed his paramount priorities related to the strategy of the company. Currently, the Ireland-based operator is seen by Reuters UK as one of the best performing stocks in Europe over the past five months.
Mr. McCue took over the position as a successor of the previous company’s head Patrick Kennedy on January 2nd, 2015. He has returned a total of €392 million to the company’s shareholders since taking the reigns of Paddy Power.
The current Chief Executive Officer took over the role after being responsible for the company’s retail operations in the UK and Ireland.
The “strong momentum” in online and retail businesses of the company provided it with the opportunity to pay out a total of €392 million to its shareholders. According to a statement of the Chief Executive Officer, the company’s pre-tax profit increased to €167 million in 2014 and its revenue rose to €882 million over the period.
Overall, the beginning of Mr. McCue’s rule over the company has been described as a positive start. As a result of the successful strategy being followed by the company and the 13% increase in its annual dividends, Paddy Power’s investors were given a total of €8 per each share they hold.
The cash returned to shareholders represents more than 10% of the current market value of the company. In addition, it is to provide the operator with the opportunity to gain a cash position of 1x EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).
Organic growth has been pointed out by the senior management team of Paddy Power as one of the key targets in the long-term strategy of the Irish operator. The latter has been recently preparing for a tough 2015 because of some new obstacles, which are considered to be created by the increased Point of Consumption tax charges and fierce market rivalry on the UK market.
According to Mr. McCue, a reshuffling and reorganization of Paddy Power’s business would involve a moderation in the number of employees who are currently working at the company. In addition, the Chief Executive Officer of the operator considers that it is necessary to fund in-house product development via economies of scale.
Another major target set by the company is a review and close monitoring to its product inventory in the months that are yet to come, as Paddy Power is currently focused on expanding and consolidating its presence on the highly-competitive market place.
