[F I N A N C E
NEWS
]
LADBROKES IN DIGITAL PROFIT WARNING
UK bookmaker’s digital pro?t for 2013 estimated to be £10m-14m
Ladbrokes has issued its third pro?t warning
for its egaming division with operating
pro?t for its digital business predicted to
be between £10m and £14m.
“Our digital earnings have been
disappointing, re?ecting a lack of
competitiveness in sportsbook, lower
margins than planned and a greater
disruptive impact than expected from the
transition necessary to grow digital for the
long term,” Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn
said.
Glynn had previously stated that the
company’s arrangement with Playtech was
vital to the company’s hopes of returning
to growth, but that an impact wasn’t to be
expected until 2014.
The operator had forecast that EBIT for
its digital division in 2013 would amount to
£27.5m, but was forced to downgrade those
estimates to between £10-14m causing the
share price to fall by more than 9% at the
time of writing.
Glynn said the ?rm remained focused on
operational changes and said Ladbrokes
was still on track to move to its new digital
platform by the early part of 2014.
“We remain con?dent that the strong
foundations we are putting in place will
drive performance during 2014 and
beyond,” Glynn said.
Ladbrokes chairman Peter Erskine
backed Glynn to succeed, saying he was
“fully con?dent” in the management team.
“While we are disappointed that the
digital results are still not where we
anticipated they would be, the board
believes that the strategy is the right one
and that the actions taken to date, along
with those planned for the coming months,
will drive the long term success of the
business,” he said.
NEWS
IN BRIEF
GVC cost cutting returns
Sportingbet to pro?t
GVC Holdings has returned
Sportingbet to profit just sixmonths after acquiring the loss
making business, the group’s
H1 results revealed. Sportingbet
posted a €0.1m trading
surplus following a series of
budget cuts as GVC’s half-year
revenues grew 144% to €72.3m.
No Gala Coral IPO
imminent, says Interactive
chief
Coral Interactive director
John O’Reilly has poured cold
water on recent reports which
suggested parent company
Gala Coral is preparing for an
imminent market flotation.
Speaking to eGaming Review,
O’Reilly conceded shareholders
are considering their options,
but stated “there are no plans
at the moment to float”.
High Spanish egaming tax
leads to €72.5m losses
WILLIAM HILL Q3 ONLINE
PROFITS DOWN 28%
Digital pro?ts fall as operational costs increase
William Hill has posted a decline in online
year-on-year operating pro?t of 28% for
Q3 2013 due to a fall in revenues across
all verticals coupled with a hike in
operational costs.
In an interim management statement,
the operator reported overall online net
revenue was 2% lower during the 13-week
period ending 1 October but remained up
11% for the year-to-date. Online operating
costs were up 12%, which amounted to 26%
of the online division’s total net revenue.
The operator said it was pleased with
the progress of its online sportsbook,
particularly the growth in football wagers,
despite seeing overall net revenues fall 1%.
Mobile sportsbook continues to grow
with turnover up 115%, which accounted
14
for 41% of total sportsbook turnover.
Mobile sportsbook margin stood at 7.4%.
All other verticals underperformed
with casino, bingo and poker net revenues
down 2%, 6% and 11% respectively. Overall
gaming net revenue was down 3%. Gaming
?gures were also hit after the company
lost around £2.5m to one customer during
the month of August.
William Hill chief executive Ralph
Topping bemoaned sports results during
the period but was keen to underline the
operator’s strong performance on the
mobile channel.
“During this quarter, results were not
as favourable as in the comparable period,
with outcomes – particularly in football –
going the punters’ way,” Topping said.
Excessive taxation of the
regulated online gaming market
in Spain has led to yearly losses
of €72.5m, according to a new
report compiled by Deloitte.
The Report on the Taxation of
Online Gambling found that
despite operators generating
€234m in gross gaming
revenue, the heavy tax burden
had caused significant losses
and a lack of competitiveness
since the regulated market first
opened in June 2012.
Holland Casino on brink of
bankruptcy
Dutch monopoly operator
Holland Casino has edged
closer to bankruptcy after being
put under direct supervision of
national banks amid mounting
debts and falling revenues. The
firm, which holds the exclusive
right to operate casinos in
the Netherlands, faces debts
of around €60m which are
spiralling towards €100m.
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