Paddy Power is a football winner

Paddy Power, the offbeat bookie, yesterday reported surging, half-year profits up 21 per cent to €68.7m (£54.5m), thanks partly to a strong Euro 2012.

Paddy hit the news at the tournament when the Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner dropped his shorts after scoring a goal against Portugal to reveal a pair of Paddy Power lucky pants.

UEFA promptly banned him for one 2014 World Cup qualifying match and fined him €100,000, which Paddy paid on his behalf.

Paddy took €78m of bets during the three-week tournament.

Its chief executive Patrick Kennedy reckons Paddy is the only bookie with apps that work on all mobile phones. The bookie has 1.2 million online customers, a rise of 41 per cent. That online growth and a strong performance in Australia helped push overall revenue to €311.2m, up from €242m a year ago.