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SUMMER OF BOOKIE FRIENDLY RESULTS
Ladbrokes shared very good news in the City today with the announcement of a £25.3m profit for the first siz months of the year. This compares to a £51.5m lost compared to last year.The Bookmaker and Top UK Casino Operator said this strong performance was helped by a series of favourable sporting results and the “sporting gods” shining over the famous red sign.
The bookie friendly results included the early exit of both England and Northern Ireland from this Summer’s European Championship.
Both Ladbrokes and Gala Coral are discussion with other UK Bookmakers to sell 350-400 betting shops to allow the merger to go through. Interested parties include Betfred, owner of Betfred Casino and Betfred Games.Chief Executive Jim Mullen was quoted as saying “at a time when the sporting gods have generally been on our side and we’ve enjoyed some helpful bookmaker friendly results”. He continued with “However, 130 years of experience in sports betting has shown us that we will endure a run of customer friendly results and margins will normalise.”
About Ladbrokes and Gala Coral MergerLadbrokes, the UK’s second-biggest bookmaker, announced its planned £2.3bm merger with Gala Coral, the third-biggest, in July last year.
Once completed the deal will make the new company the largest bookmaker in the UK, but last month the Competition and Markets Authority said it had identified 642 local areas where the merger would hit competition.
It said the two companies must sell between 350 and 400 shops for the merger to be cleared.
Ladbrokes has about 2,150 outlets in Britain and 77 in Northern Ireland. Coral runs 1,850 shops in Britain.In its results statement, Ladbrokes said it was “engaging” with potential buyers and remained hopeful that a competitive process could be completed by the end of September. It would then look to begin “significant” restructuring of the businesses before the end of the year.
Ladbrokes’ shares were up 5% in morning trading.PRESS RELEASE: Ladbrokes profits up strongly after a series of favourable sporting event results
