Bookmaker plans supercasino bid

Bookmaker Ladbrokes said today that it was planning a bid to run Britain’s first Las Vegas-style supercasino as it unveiled better-than-expected profits for 2006 at £246.5m (€367.6m).

The group reported a 6% rise in pre-tax profits, up from £232.1m (€345.8m) in 2005, and confirmed its interest in the Manchester casino and “several” of the other 16 licences due to be made available by the Government soon.