Shares in Paddy Power slide on back of double downgrade

PADDY Power Betfair slipped to its lowest level in almost two years after Investec double downgraded the bookmaker from “buy” to “sell” on lower revenue forecasts and a harsher regulatory environment looming on the horizon.

While the FTSE 100 bookie will benefit longterm from its exposure to online sports betting, the broker said that rising online competition and this year’s punter-friendly sports results would weigh on earnings.

Paddy Power will remain a top five global player of the online gambling stocks but in the short term will suffer, it said.

Bucking analyst consensus on the company, the broker slashed its target price from £100 to £69.70, describing its recent share price performance as “lacklustre” to send Paddy Power sliding 165p to £75.40.

Meanwhile, FTSE 250 rival Ladbrokes Coral pushed up 2.8p to 118.7p after calling a truce with the Racing Partnership over its squabble on the cost of broadcasting rights. Some 22 racecourses were included in the blackout with fears that competitors

William Hill and Paddy Power were snapping at its heels in terms of market share.

Patrick Coffey, a Barclays analyst, called the deal a small negative for Ladbrokes’ rivals but William Hill pared early losses to edge up 0.8p to 249.5p.

Easyjet slipped towards the bottom of the FTSE 100 for a second consecutive day, flying 22p lower to £13.12 as traders digested the low-cost carrier’s results on Thursday. HSBC noted that, even when stripping out the favourable timing of Easter, revenue per seat was still on an upward trend.

Fourth-quarter guidance is there to be beaten and late booking trends were improving on last year’s sharp decline, said analyst Andrew Lobbenberg.

However, broker Liberum said that margins would only be restored to their previous peak when higher fuel prices turn the screw on rivals.

Medical equipment manufacturer Convatec closed among the top gainers on the blue-chip index, advancing 5.1p to 313.2p, as investors cheered its $120.5m (£93m) acquisition of US catheter supplier Woodbury Holdings.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index deteriorated as the session wore on, closing 34.96 points lower at 7,452.91 but was sheltered from the losses seen on the continent as investors started to turn their attention to the impact of the strong euro on secondquarter earnings.

On the FTSE 250, Acacia

Mining crashed 17pc as it revealed that revenues had plunged since the Tanzanian government banned the export of gold concentrate in March.

The gold mining specialist’s share price has been decimated since the ban began, plunging 57pc, and shed 48.4p to 232.4p yesterday.

At the other end, Paysafe closed at its highest-ever level, up 37p at 579p, after private equity mammoths Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners bid £2.9bn for the payment service.

Overall, the FTSE 250 ended down 12.7 points at 19,751.24.

Finally, on the junior Aim, specialist AV distributor

Midwich surged 57p to 385.25p after reporting that its new Spanish business would help it post full-year results “comfortably” ahead of expectations.