Betting firm’s profits fall 15%

Operating profits fell by 15.6% at the Irish operations of international betting and gaming group Ladbrokes last year, although the business did manage to marginally grow revenue.

Full-year figures, covering the last calendar year, from the British bookmaker show an 8.2% decline in group operating profit to £190.3 million (€229.6m), an 8.5% drop in pre-tax profits to £134.6m and a 0.4% increase in group annual revenues to £980.3m. Basic earnings per share fell by nearly 69%, but the dividend for shareholders was up by 2.6%, to 7.80p.

Ladbrokes’ net debt levels were also reduced, last year, by almost 8%, to £453.9m.