The world\’s biggest bookmaker said gross win for the first half of the year reached £523.1 million, up 12.0% from the same period last year. Operating profit from continuing operations increased by 12.3% to £151.3 million.
The World Cup proved to be a massive earner with gross win totalling £17.5 million across the tournament. In a statement, Ladbrokes called this summer\’s soccer World Championship the biggest betting event in their history.
“It gave a major boost to Ladbrokes\’ customer base, with over 220,000 new e-Gaming and Telephone customers in the first 6 months of 2006.”
Sportsbetting margins in Retail were positive between March and the half year, aided by good results at Cheltenham, Aintree, Ascot and the World Cup. This helped mitigate the unusually high levels of lost horse racing and poor results during January and February. Total gross win increased by 7.9% to £407.6 million, while operating profit was up 4.9% to £120.1 million. Like for like gross win in the UK Retail grew by 1.0%. The initial response to Ladbrokes Xtra, which was rolled out to the UK shop estate in time for the World Cup, has been encouraging. During the second half of 2006, Ladbrokes Xtra will introduce a number of systems enhancements, including a more comprehensive range of \’betting-in-play\’.
eGaming continued to grow, with gross win up 25% to £72.6 million and 420,000 unique active players (up 37%). Net revenue, after fair value adjustments for free bets, promotions and bonuses, increased by 22% to £66.6 million.
The online sportsbook (including Ladbrokes Financials) showed strong growth in gross win, up 54% to £24.6 million. Average monthly active player days grew by 43% to 644,000 and yield per unique active player grew 7% to £75.
Poker gross win grew by 15% to £21.3 million, impacted by increased competition, particularly in Sweden with the launch of the state lottery poker site. Average monthly active player days grew by 39% to 496,000 and yield per unique active player fell 28% to £161. During the World Cup, poker experienced a marked dip in player levels and activity. High profile promotional events planned for the second half include Ladbrokes European Online Championship Of Poker and the popular televised Ladbrokes\’ Poker Million tournament (with Europe\’s largest TV poker prize pool of $4.2 million).
Casino gross win grew by 16% to £21.4 million and average monthly active player days were up 31% at 72,000. The market leading \’1 click\’ suite of instant play casino games was successfully launched in the first half with further developments planned for the second half.
Games gross win grew by 3.9% to £5.3 million, with average monthly active player days up 30% to 70,000. In the second quarter, Ladbrokes Games launched Bingo and Backgammon, while the branded game \’Deal or No Deal\’ was launched in July with encouraging early signs.
Telephone Betting gross win excluding High Rollers was £20.3 million, up 29% from first half 2005, with gross win margins of 8.8% compared to 5.9% in 2005. Gross win from High Rollers was £13.3 million (H1 2005: £5.9 million). Unique active players were level at 100,100 (H1 2005: 99,800), but average monthly active player days grew by 2.6% and call volumes (excluding High Rollers) increased by 8.2%. Including the impact of High Rollers, operating profit almost doubled to £16.6 million (H1 2005: £8.5 million).
Vernons operating profit fell by 32% to £2.1 million largely due to the impact of results in the Irish National Lottery based game, \’Lucky Clover\’, where margins ran 13 percentage points below last year at 29%.
Ladbrokes announced in February it was considering an entry into the US market, but today Chief Executive Chris Bell said that, in view of ongoing uncertainties within the US legislative environment, the decision on whether to take business from US customers remains under review. The bookmaker announced new ventures in Italy, Turkey and Vietnam, adding to existing agreements in China and Russia, as part of a plan to increase its presence internationally. Bell indicated that acquisitions are likely to form part of the strategy.
“Telephone Betting has shown good recovery in the first half of 2006 and whilst the competitive environment remains tough for Poker, performance in Sportsbook, Casino and Games is very positive and we believe that the eGaming channel will continue its good growth,” said the company in a statement.
“Management remains positive about the prospects for the business this year and, looking further ahead, will continue to take full advantage of the opportunities that the market presents both at home and overseas.”
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