09-08-2007 Ladbrokes eGaming continues to perform well

During the first half 2007, eGaming net revenue increased by 8.9% to £72.5 million, with 441,000 unique active players, up 5%. Excluding the impact of the World Cup, which delivered £3.4 million net revenue in the first half of 2006, net revenue grew 14%.

Sportsbook (including Ladbrokes Financials) net revenue rose by 13.9% to £27.1 million (an increase of 32.8% excluding the impact of the World Cup), with gross win margin up 1.2 percentage points to 7.9%, benefiting from strong margins at the Cheltenham festival and Royal Ascot. Average monthly active player days were marginally down at 640,000 with no World Cup, but yield per unique active player grew 14.7% to £86.

The Casino and Games products also reported good growth, while the Poker product continued to be impacted by the competitive environment in the Nordics and the UK.

The total group gross win increased by 19.3% to £624.0 million. Group operating profit increased 28.9% to £195.0 million, with Telephone Betting High Rollers contributing significantly to the first half performance.

Internationally, Ladbrokes remains focused on Spain, where is looking to identify new license premises, and Italy, where the focus is on the acquisition of existing shops and the planned launch of Ladbrokes.it. The company is also bidding for new sports lotteries in Taiwan and Vietnam and exploring opportunities in China.

CEO Christopher Bell announced that recognizing the strong cash flow generated from operations, the company will commence a share buy back programme in the second half of the year to return up to £250 million to shareholders.