Paddy Power Betfair silent over Corcoran quit rumours

Paddy Power Betfair were tight-lipped on Sunday following a report the bookmaking giant had started the search for a new chief executive.

According to Sky News, the company's board has hired headhunters from Spencer Stuart to identify a successor to Breon Corcoran, who has previously given no indication of plans to relinquish the position he has held since Paddy Power and Betfair merged in February of last year.

A former Paddy Power chief operating officer, Corcoran, 46, left that position to become Betfair chief executive before appointed the group chief executive when the £6 billion-plus merger between the two betting companies was completed.

A change of leadership would come as a surprise to investors, with Corcoran well regarded and the merger widely judged to have been a success.

Having unveiled final-year results for 2016 in line with forecasts, Paddy Power Betfair’s operating profits more than doubled in the first quarter of 2017, thanks in no small part to a successful Cheltenham Festival.

A spokesman for Paddy Power Betfair declined to comment further on Sunday, although the search for Corcoran's eventual successor is reportedly being led by company chairman Gary McGann.

Details of Corcoran's and the company's plans are likely to become clearer on Tuesday morning, when Paddy Power Betfair post their half-year results.