Ladbrokes bet on busy summer
Bookmaker Ladbrokes looked forward to a summer of sport today after posting a 5% hike in profits in the first four months of the year.
In its first trading update since selling hotels group Hilton International for £3.3bn (€4.8bn), Ladbrokes said it benefited from favourable horse racing results at the Gold Cup meeting in Cheltenham and Grand National meeting at Aintree, Liverpool.
The bookie said it was confident about the rest of the year thanks to a string of major sporting events this summer, including the football World Cup and major race meetings.
“We have had a positive start to the year and are trading in line with our expectations,“ said Ladbrokes chief executive Christopher Bell.
“As we approach the busiest part of the sporting year, with the Epsom Derby, the World Cup in Germany, and Royal Ascot to look forward to, I am confident about the prospects for the business.”
Ladbrokes is the world's largest betting shop chain and has said that this summer's World Cup "promises to be the biggest betting event ever''.
The company said its winnings increased by 11% between January and April with a 7% hike at its European business, which has operations in Belgium and Ireland and includes football pools company Vernons, despite the loss of 37 meetings.
Its online gambling arm eGaming saw winnings increase by 26% but there was a 32% rise in operating costs as campaigns to attract more customers and preparations for the World Cup took their toll.
Winnings at the telephone betting service were up 43% with operating costs increasing just 1%.
Ladbrokes said that total costs for the whole group were up 12% and “in line with expectations” driven by new licences and soaring energy bills.
Ladbrokes was part of Hilton International until February when the hotels and leisure business was sold to United States-based cousin Hilton Hotel Corporation in a multi-billion pound deal which reunited the Hilton chain after more than 40 years apart.
