[F I N A N C E
NEWS
]
LADBROKES “ON TRACK” WITH
NEW TRADING UPDATE
Mid-range group operating profit expected for year ended 31 December 2013
Ladbrokes claims it is “on track” to revive
its digital business as it sought to reassure
shareholders its performance for the year
ended 31 December 2013 would remain in
line with previous market guidance.
In December, Ladbrokes confirmed the
launch of its new mobile platform had been a
success, and that it remains “on track to deliver
against key strategic priorities” in H1 2014, in
relation to the firm’s ongoing migration to
Playtech’s suite of egaming software.
The migration has been a focal point of
Ladbrokes’ online strategy but has been
hamstrung by a series of delays, with a note
issued by Barclays warning that any further
delays could lead to a de-rating of shares.
“Ladbrokes’ online turnaround has been
far slower than expected and with the PoC
tax looming, time is running out in our
opinion,” the note said.
Criticism was also reserved for
Ladbrokes’ lack of marketing scale in
comparison to its competitors with Barclays
forecasting the firm to spend around £66m
on marketing in FY2015, around 38% of
William Hill’s predicted spend of £173m.
In a post-close trading update the UK
bookmaker said it has forecasted group
operating profit for the period to be in the
middle of the range of analysts’ forecasts of
between £129.8m and £151m.
January’s announcement comes after
the company was forced into issuing a
statement in mid-November to alleviate
fears that profit forecasts were to be cut
once again to £135m.
NEW JERSEY EGAMING GENERATES
$7.4M IN FIRST MONTH
Borgata leads the way with revenues of $3.3m, followed by Caesars
The PartyPoker-powered Borgata domi-
nated the first month of regulated
online gambling in New Jersey taking
a 45% share of the total in revenue generated in the state during December
2013.
Regulated online gambling generated
$7.4m in gross gaming revenue during
its first month in New Jersey, according
to figures released by the state’s
Division of Gaming Enforcement, with
poker revenues outstripping casino for
the two leading operators.
The Borgata, which partnered with
online egaming operator bwin.party,
took an early market lead with revenues
of $3.34m for the month of December.
The early success of PartyPoker saw
the Borgata generate $1.7m from the
14
vertical compared with $1.6m from its
online casino offering.
Caesars Interactive, which operates the
World Series of Poker and CaesarsCasino
sites in the Garden State, came in second
place with revenues of $2.03m.
Poker sites active under its licences –
including 888.com – attracted revenues
of $1.06m compared with $962,369 for its
online casino product.
Poker wasn’t successful for everyone,
however, with the Trump Plaza and its
online partner Betfair US generating
online poker revenues of just $38 for the
month of December.
Third in overall GGR was the Trump
Taj Mahal ($825,092), followed by the
Tropicana ($603,579) and the Trump
Plaza ($401,971).
NEWS
IN BRIEF
32Red full-year
revenues up 21%
Gibraltar-licensed 32Red
has posted double-digit
growth for the year ended
31 December 2013 after
seeing revenues rise by 21%
to £38.8m due to a greater
focus on CRM. According to
a trading note released in
January, this increased focus
on CRM resulted in a 24% rise
in active players to 71,266 over
the 12-month period.
French sports betting
offsets poker decline
The French online sports
betting market continued its
upward trajectory during 2013
after the country’s regulator
reported a 19% rise in gross
gaming revenue (GGR),
offsetting what was another
disappointing 12 months for
online poker.
Marketing and mobile
boost NetPlay growth
Interactive TV gaming company
NetPlay is looking to build on
its marketing push in 2013 after
recording a 33% year-on-year
increase in Q4 revenues.
New marketing initiatives
helped the TV casino operator
post total net revenues of
£7.9m in Q4 2013, compared
to £5.9m in the same period
the previous year, according
to its year-end results.
GVC ends year with
solid Q4
GVC Holdings expects to
exceed analysts’ full-year
EBITDA forecasts after the
company saw 3% sequential
growth in net gaming revenue
(NGR) during the fourth
quarter. According to a full-year
trading update released on 9
January, total NGR for the three
months ended 31 December
amounted to €48.9m, an
increase on the previous
quarter’s total of €47.5m.
www.egrmagazine.com