Bookmaker Paddy Power has reported underlying pre-tax profits of €121.2m for the year to the end of December, up 16% on 2010's profits.
Net revenues for the year rose by 17% to €499.3m from €426.7m and the company said that 79% of its operating profits now come from its online activities. Customers outside of Ireland accounted for 74% of total operating profits for 2011, up from 64% in 2010.
Paddy Power reported a record turnover of €4.6 billion in 2011, up 19% on the previous year, despite ''headwinds'' from the economic conditions, a return to a normal run of sports events and the absence of a football World Cup.
The company said it is proposing an increase in the final dividend of 40% to 70 cent per share. This would bring the total dividend for 2011 to 100 cent per share, a 33% increase on the 2010 dividend.
During the year, Paddy Power said it opened 72 new shops in the UK, taking its total to 165. Operating profits from its retail operations has increased from €1.3m in 2009 to €10.5m in 2011.
However, it said its Irish retail operations faced ''particularly challenging economic conditions since 2008''. It said it is facing these challenges with a ''clear strategy of compelling value for customers combined with tight cost management''.
Paddy Power announced today its plans to enter the Italian market and during the year it expanded into two further countries - Bulgaria and Canada.
Paddy Power said that the amounts staked at its Irish retail division increased by 3% to €935m, although net revenue fell by 6% to €103m due to a lower gross win percentage. The company opened three new shops in Ireland last year.
Operating profits at its Irish and UK online business, paddypower.com, rose by 29% to €74.3m despite ongoing investment and less favourable sporting results. The number of active customers rose to 41%, while amounts staked were up 29% and revenues rose by 30%.
The company said that its Australia division increased profits by 17% to €22.8m and the business secured a number of major investments that accelerated growth in the second half of last year.
The firm said its telephone channel continues to defy the challenges from online competition and the downturn in Ireland by successfully growing its UK market share. Amounts stake rose by 7% last year, with a 17% increase from UK customers more than offsetting a decline of 6% from Irish customers. The average stake per bet fell by 6% to €51.74.
Commenting on its results, Paddy Power's chief executive Patrick Kennedy said the company is in the middle of ''game changing developments in the betting industry''.
He said that online markets continue to grow strongly with consumers online migration speeding up as a result of the growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers.
''With only 9% of the 285 billion global gambling market currently online, there is clearly significant scope for continued strong market growth,'' he added.
Paddy Power said that trading in the first two months of 2012 has been ''satisfactory'' with underling momentum remaining strong. It also said that it continues to invest substantially for new opportunities.
