Paddy Power issued a trading update yesterday in which it said it expected to post a 57 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for last year, broadly in line with market expectations.

The bookmaker said it would report profits of around €32.1 million, within the range of analysts' forecasts which varied from €30 million to €34 million. It expects basic earnings per share to be around 56.4 cent.

Shares in Paddy Power rose by 32 cent, or nearly 3 per cent, to €11.15 as the market welcomed the statement which came in the wake of last week's profit warning from British rival Stanley Leisure.

On Monday, Britain's second-largest betting shop chain, William Hill, issued a negative trading statement following a recent run of unfavourable sporting results.

"The statement provided a bit of clarity to the market. Otherwise, people would have been speculating," one market source noted yesterday.

Paddy Power admitted that the unfavourable sporting results in the fourth quarter had adversely affected its gross margin for the year.

But it noted that its business had continued to show strong turnover growth in the second half.

Despite the poor run of results, particularly in the busy December period, it also said its gross win percentages for last year would fall within the guided annual ranges. These are 12 per cent to 14 per cent for its retail business, 8.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent for dial-a-bet and 7.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent for its online sportsbook.

The bookmaker also said no change to these ranges was being guided for the current year.

"The inherent nature of bookmaking means that gross win will move within a range during any given financial year subject to the vagaries of sporting results."

Paddy Power also remained upbeat about the future, saying its business had continued to develop well across all channels.