Bookmakers Ladbrokes and Gala Coral will have to sell between 350 and 400 shops to win clearance for their UK merger, the British competition regulator has said.

British bookmaker Ladbrokes saw underlying profits at its troubled Irish operations increase last year and said its business here can have an “exciting” future.

Shares traded in Ladbrokes changed little in London yesterday, suggesting that an 11th-hour intervention by stakeholder Dermot Desmond calling for it to scupper plans to buy rival bookie Gala Coral will continue to fall on deaf ears.

Paddy Power shareholders are in line for a fresh €80m windfall, via a special dividend payout, if the leading Irish betting services firm succeeds in its planned merger with UK-based online rival, Betfair.

Ladbrokes Ireland generated operating profits of £2.5m (€3.5m) in the first half of this year, unchanged from the same period last year.

British bookmaker, Ladbrokes is expecting annual operating profits to fall around £20m (€28m) short of expectations, this year.

A gunman opened fire at a cinema in Louisiana, killing two people and injuring at least seven others before fatally shooting himself; Hiqa has identified a number of areas of non-compliance at a hospital in Cork; Katie Taylor has responded to Billy Joe Saunders who said women "are there for sex"; and two lads pull off the most epic photobomb live on SkyNews. Here’s today’s lunchtime irishexaminer.com round-up.

British betting company Ladbrokes has announced more rationalisation plans, aimed at reducing costs further and allowing for a greater digital-based investment drive.

Shares in British bookmaker Ladbrokes jumped 20%, at one point yesterday, on news of its merger talks with Gala Coral, designed to create a $5 billion (€4.5bn) giant with the capacity to advance in the online gambling market.

Mecca Bingo owner Rank has abandoned a major revamp programme launched four years ago to attract younger players to the UK company after admitting results had been disappointing.

Pressure is mounting in the UK on disgraced former HBOS bosses amid anger over mammoth pension pots and nearly £1m of “bonuses for going bust”.

An American vulture fund is reportedly circling stricken HMV in a move that could see it become one of the retailer’s biggest creditors.

The continued political stalemate in Greece triggered more heavy falls for world markets today as party leaders failed to make progress forming a coalition government.

World markets suffered heavy losses today as Greek party leaders struggled to reach an agreement to form a coalition government nine days after an election was held.

Greece's failure to reach a concrete deal with creditors to avoid a default depressed world markets today, with banks among the biggest losers.

UK state-owned horse racing bookmaker the Tote is to be sold off on the open market, it was reported today.

Plans by a horse-racing consortium to buy the Tote were thwarted by the British government today.

The UK’s largest horse racing operator today confirmed it had been involved in talks regarding an industry-wide bid for state-owned bookmaker the Tote.

A horse-racing industry consortium has made a formal bid for the Tote, the British government-owned bookmaker, below its £400m (€594m) price tag, it was reported today.

Unilever looked set to end its 63-year association with Birds Eye today after agreeing to sell most of its European frozen foods business for £1.16bn (€1.7bn).