Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Gambling Control Bill: Discussion

11:55 am

Mr. Joe Lewins:

With betting shops, there are a number of products and 65% of the betting shop product is horse racing. One can win or lose in that. The figures for Paddy Power and Ladbrokes are declared, and the Paddy Power figure was 11.7%, with 1% betting duty to pay on that, meaning it goes to 10.7%. The costs will be approximately 9% or 10%, so that is where the 1% to 2.5% figure comes from. The Ladbrokes figure is approximately 13.2% and the same mathematics can be done to bring the final figure to 3.2% or 3.1%. The product mix determines the margins. Horse racing is at 65%, with greyhound racing at 15% or 16% and virtual gaming at approximately 15%. Soccer is getting much stronger. The margins are approximately 2.5%, and they can be measured over the past five or ten years as the historical data exists for private limited companies.