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Always bet on the bookies to deliver: Despite a run of results that favoured punters, Paddy Power's interim profits kept pace with what was a record first-half last year, illustrating the old adage that bookies never lose.

Betting shop profits halved to €6.7 million, but it made plenty of ground online and through telephone betting, which together accounted for over 60 per cent of operating profits. This reflects the fact that, thanks to digital television, punters can bet from home rather than heading down to the bookie's shop.

However, both these channels finished behind the shops when it came to gross win - the total amount staked less the winnings handed back to punters - which is a key measure of the success of a betting operation.

Retail delivered a 12.4 per cent gross win margin, compared to 11.6 per cent for online and 8.6 per cent for the telephone service. Both telephone and online customers play for higher stakes. The average telephone bet was €88.73, while online it was €28.30, compared to €17.85 for retail.

As a general rule, people who punt on this scale are shrewder, lose less often and win more than the smaller stakes players in the shops. For Paddy Power, this means that the two businesses that are developing fastest are potentially less profitable than the retail side.

In the meantime, the company has indicated that its poor run of luck continued during the summer. However, its own backers should not worry. Autumn is a hard time for racing fans to find winners as the ground changes and form is less reliable. Mark my words, bookies never lose.

A keystroke too far for Sorrell underling

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of advertising and PR group WPP, is often described as one of the most feared and powerful players in British media.

Controlling one of the largest advertising budgets in the world, Sorrell's empire even stretches here to Ireland where various advertising agencies and PR firms ultimately report into him.

Predictably running such a large company makes staff generally fearful of his wrath. In that context, one can only have sympathy for the underling who recently sent him an e-mail which was meant to be signed with "See you shortly". Due to a clumsy key stroke, the unfortunate line manager signed off his email with "See you shorty".

Oh dear.

Slings and arrows can only fail to daunt Fazio

Antonio Fazio is nothing if not durable. Italy's central bank chief attended yesterday's meeting of the European Central Bank's governing council with all the insouciance of a man at ease with the world and not one whose every move has been under a microscope since the start of the year.

Back in February, the EU's Irish internal markets commissioner Charlie McCreevy wrote to the Italian banker to express unease over reports that he was determined to block takeovers in the sector from foreign banks.

Undaunted, Fazio proceeded to act against the best advice of his own officials and back a proposal by an Italian bank, Banco Popolare Italiana, to make advances to rival Banca Antonveneta to end the takeover aspirations of Dutch banking giant ABN Amro.

Confronted with leaked evidence from wiretaps that would have undermined the confidence of a lesser man, Fazio trenchantly defended his position when summoned before a meeting of cabinet ministers embarrassed about the impact of the scandal abroad.

Even ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet seemed wary of treading on his toes when asked yesterday about his position with the ECB - cautiously stating he would monitor the situation and citing the need for more information.

But then Fazio has an ace up his sleeve that nobody can trump - he holds his position for life, a position even the venerable Alan Greenspan failed to achieve despite having the world's markets hang on his every word for over 18 years in office.