Ladbrokes operating profit rises by 76%

The Irish arm of British bookmaker Ladbrokes grew its operating profits by 76.3% and net revenue by nearly 5% in the first half of this year.

Ladbrokes Ireland’s revenue for the six months to the end of June amounted to £40.5m (€51.6m), while operating profits came in at £6.7m. Gross win — the amount the company took from punters’ losing bets — in Ireland grew by 4.8% to £41.7m, but the total amount of money bet by customers here, during the period, was down by nearly 7% on a year-on-year basis to £356.8m.

Ladbrokes said the current economic downturn, coupled with a “highly competitive trading environment” led it to place most of its emphasis in Ireland on cost cutting. Over the six months, the company managed to lower its operating costs here by 2.3% — or £700,000 — to £30m. It said this was down to improvements in “shop efficiency”.