Big payouts to punters betting on soccer drag Ladbrokes revenues down

Big payouts to punters betting on soccer results dragged first quarter revenues, at Ladbrokes Ireland, down by nearly 13%.

The British betting services group yesterday reported overall operating profits of £18.4m (€22.4m) for the first three months of 2014 in line with guidance; while group revenue was down by 2.3% to £6.5m.

In its Irish operations — which, last year, saw a near-30% drop in operating profits, but a 1.1% rise in net revenue — first quarter net revenue was down by 12.8%, year-on-year, with football results being the main driver.

“Overall, we recorded a positive performance from the Cheltenham Festival and year-on-year increases in both gross win and slip numbers,” management added regarding Ireland, where it has nearly 300 retail outlets island-wide.

Monetary amounts staked over-the-counter, during the period, fell by just under 3%, however.

In February, at the time of its 2013 annual results announcement, Ladbrokes said its Irish division had endured “a difficult year”, with gross win only marginally increasing and operating costs rising by 7%. But the group’s management added that it was happy with its broad product offering and enhanced trading technology here and wouldn’t be including Ireland in its latest round of store closures.

Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn said yesterday that on a group-wide basis the business has delivered on all of management’s stated operational targets either on track or ahead of plan.

“Our financial performance remains consistent with our expectations at the time of our annual results announcement in February,” he added.