Foinavon. Buster Douglas KO’ing Mike Tyson. Greece winning the Euros. Bookies love a shock. So, it was only a matter of time before Breon Corcoran got in on the act.
The Paddy Power Betfair boss is not only under starter’s orders but he’s off. And who’d have laid short odds on that just 18 months after the near-£6 billion merger that brought us Betty Power?
Mr Corcoran’s not even sticking around to see if anyone lands one of Paddy’s more serious betting propositions: “When will alien life be proven?” It’s a skinny 3-1 for 2017, no doubt because the wager’s settled on the say-so of the “sitting president of the USA” — just the sort of thing The Donald might tweet when he’s sitting on the loo.
Indeed, you’d have probably got longer odds on the imminent exit of Mr Corcoran, at least if the analysts were making the book. Those at Goodbody found the news a “surprise”, Davy’s called the timing “less than ideal”, while Barclays’ lot deemed the whole caper “a clearly negative signal”, coming so soon after a “major merger”. Meantime, the shares fell 5 per cent to £75.50.
Yes, it does seem a bit quick, not least with Mr Corcoran starting talks with chairman Gary McGann over his exit as long ago as last autumn — at least giving him plenty of time to find a decent looking successor in non-exec Peter Jackson. But maybe it’s not such a bolt from the blue. After 16 years in the business, Mr Corcoran, 46, has proved himself the outstanding bookmaker of his generation, not least in his grasp of the game-changing impact of mobile betting. And, as he put it yesterday: “I want to go hard on something else”. Not that he has anything lined up.
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There’s no question he’s delivered for investors. When the then chief operating officer of Paddy Power was poached by Betfair in 2012 to become the betting exchange group’s new boss, he found a business reeling from 2010’s cack-handed £13-a-share float, with the shares below £8. Pretty soon, alongside feisty chairman Gerald Corbett, Mr Corcoran was fighting 2013’s bid approach from CVC and a bunch of Betfair shareholders. When they dangled 975p on the condition Mr Corcoran switch sides, many would have taken the private equity loot. Not him. He had a different strategic vision for Betfair: more mass market than the CVC one focused on bigger punters.
He was right. By August 2015 when Betfair unveiled its merger with Mr Corcoran’s old shop Paddy, the shares stood at £31.34. True, the combined group has had a rockier run lately — the shares were pushing £100 in early 2016. And maybe Mr Jackson, who’s joining from Worldpay, faces heavier going on the regulatory front. Yet he knows what he’s letting himself in for: he’s been on the Betfair board since 2013, before joining the merged one.
And he’ll be taking over a digital-focused market leader with the clout to dictate the next round of betting group consolidation. For that he has Mr Corcoran to thank, whatever the shock of his departure.
Waste of energy
At least Greg Clark has a sense of humour. The business secretary has just appointed Dieter Helm to “recommend ways to keep energy prices as low as possible”. And all part of an exciting “independent review”, what with Britain having the “ambition” to have Europe’s lowest energy costs.
And how’s that ambition going, you ask? Well, we’re building Hinkley Point C, a nice nuke so low-cost it’ll mean Brits only paying £50 billion over the odds: the difference between the bonkers price we’ve agreed to pay for its ’leccy for 35 years and forecast wholesale energy costs. Or so say the government’s very own “whole life” figures.
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So, anyway, guess what? Hinkley won’t even be in the prof’s review. Neither will smart meters. Or gas bills. Or suppliers’ profits. Bit hard to see, then, how it will “consider the whole electricity supply chain — generation, transmission, distribution and supply”.
Still, there you go. Apparently, “innovative technologies”, such as batteries, robotics and artificial intelligence will get a look in. Lucky that. The prof’s only down for 30 days’ work at a rate of £500 a day. Maybe he’ll find a clever robot up for doing a proper energy review.
Flight of fancy
Proof Michael O’Leary was ahead of his time. Seven years ago, the Ryanair boss proposed doing away with co-pilots on the grounds that “the computer does most of the flying now”. It was just one of his consumer-friendly suggestions, alongside his fat tax, standing-only flights and pound payment for an onboard pee.
And now look what’s happened. A bunch of cloud bunnies from UBS have gone even further: they reckon the aviation industry could save more than $35 billion a year from pilotless planes. Think of the savings on job and training costs, while “better-optimised flight paths” would cut fuel bills. In fact, flying may be safer thanks to eliminating “human cockpit errors” — always assuming the computer at the controls doesn’t get hacked.
UBS reckons such flights “could appear by around 2025”. Yet, when it asked 8,000 people who would be prepared to fly on one, just 17 per cent said they would. Funny that.
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Social animals
Here’s why your pet’s ignoring you. Just under a fifth of UK dogs and cats “have their own social media profiles”. Yes, even ones that don’t look like Kim Kardashian. Or so says Sainsbury’s Bank pet insurance, which finds Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat their favourites, even if it is a bit coy about how many are on Tinder. No wonder they can’t be bothered with boring old walkies.
alistair.osborne@thetimes.co.uk