Bookie outpaces rivals amid fears £2 fixed bet cap remains a runner

PADDY Power Betfair popped on a rebounding London market yesterday after Credit Suisse concluded that the bookie is racing ahead in the sector’s transition from bricks to clicks and is also better suited than its UK rivals to weather the looming regulatory storm.

The bookie, which nosedived almost 9pc last week on the departure of chief executive Breon Corcoran and disappointing interim results, outstrips the sector in terms of riskreward and boasts superior technology to rivals, analyst Tal Grant argued, upgrading the stock to “outperform” to lift shares 115p to £73.70.

The market is, however, underestimating the likelihood of a cut to maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 with the election outcome increasing the chances of regulatory reform in gambling, the broker told clients. Some 20pc of Ladbrokes

Coral shops would close and the bookie’s core EBITDA profits would plummet by around 50pc if a £2 maximum stake was implemented, he said.

Downgrading the FTSE 250 bookie to “underperform”, the broker also said that Ladbrokes lagged its peers in terms of technology. Shares slid 2p to 116.8p.

Elsewhere, investors reversed much of the damage done from last week’s mini ‘Trump dump’ as fears that the war of words between the US and North Korea could escalate into conflict subsided.

Last week’s losers – internationally exposed stocks such as global pharmaceutical firms, top miners and banking heavyweights – advanced most on the FTSE 100 as investor angst over the rogue state’s escalating rhetoric began to wane.

Cooling tensions helped Asia-focused banks HSBC and Standard Chartered lead the relief rally in London, gaining 6.3p to 743.1p and 15.7p to 769.3p, respectively, while

Glencore, up 9.9p at 331.9p, was the top mining riser. Meanwhile, Thomson Airways-operator TUI closed on a record high after jumping 59p to £12.90 on a broker upgrade. The FTSE

100 snapped a three-session losing streak to finish 43.93 points higher at 7,353.89.

Safe haven assets and their beneficiaries pulled back from their North Korea-inspired highs with precious metal miners

Randgold Resources and Fresnillo retreating 40p to £74.35 and 4p to £15.47, respectively, as the price of gold slipped from Friday’s nine-week high.

Meanwhile, Aim-listed Anglo Asian Mining,

Azerbaijan’s largest gold producer, bucked the sector, strengthening 0.8p to 24p, after upping its resource estimates at its Ugur gold deposit.

Elsewhere on the junior market, smart home innovator Lightwaverf surged 4.5p to 28p, a 19pc increase, after revealing Oct 3 as the launch date of its Apple Homekit product range in the UK and UAE.