Ladbrokes Ireland records €4.2m loss

THE Irish division of British bookmaker Ladbrokes slumped into the red last year recording a pre-tax loss of just over €4.2 million according to accounts recently filed with the Companies Office.

While Ladbrokes openly reports Irish sales and over-the-counter betting trends in its corporate results; actual profit breakdown for Ireland is not generally included.

The latest accounts — for the 12 months to the end of last December — show that Ladbrokes Ireland’s €4.2m loss spectacularly reversed an impressive €11.67m pre-tax profit the previous year. The company — under an impairment review — charged the 2009 profit and loss account by just under €1.2m.

On an operating basis, a loss of €4.4m was recorded, down from a profit of €10.96m. Turnover for the year, at the Irish-based subsidiary, amounted to €445.2m; down from €478.6m in 2008.

Ladbrokes Ireland management said: “The decline in turnover is due to the downturn in the economy. We’ve seen an increase in slippage of 3.5%, suggesting we’ve retained our customers but they’ve revised their spending patterns in response to the recession. The decline in gross win in 2009, resulted from reduced turnover which was compounded by adverse results affecting the gross win margin.”

The average stake invested per bet by customers fell from €18.21 in 2008 to €16.35 in 2009. That trend has continued on into this year. The group’s most recent quarterly results — for the three months to the end of September — showed a 9% year-on-year reduction in over-the-counter stake amounts across its 300 or so Irish shops. This, group management said, reflected “the continued weakness in the economy.”