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Casinos> 2007
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Telephone Wagers Decline At Ladbrokes
10 percent decline in wagers over the 'phone
London-listed Ladbrokes, which claims to be the world's largest
publicly traded gaming company, has announced that profit fell 10
percent in the first four months of 2007 due to fewer telephone
wagers.
The telephone betting arm of the UK company revealed that winnings
plunged 47 percent at its phone-betting unit. Earnings were in line
with the prior year excluding high rollers. Gross win, or the amount
won from gamblers, rose 5 percent without high rollers and gained
2 percent when they are included.
"These are people who have a relatively high net worth,''
CEO Christopher Bell said of the big spenders in a telephone interview
with Bloomsbergs business news. "They have the ability to have
high stakes. They were quite active in the same period last year.''
Ladbrokes is looking to online gaming and new markets for expansion
as growth slows at its betting shops. The bookmaker agreed in January
to buy its Nordic Web-gambling partner for up to GBP40 million ($79
million) and last year budgeted Euros 100 million ($135 million)
to move into Italy, where it won new licenses in December.
This year's profit from continuing operations before interest and
tax appears likely to meet the market's expectations, Ladbrokes
said in a statement prior to its annual shareholder meeting. Analysts
have estimated operating profit at about the same as last year,
according to Bell.
Winnings climbed 11 percent at Ladbrokes' online unit, which the
bookmaker had sought to bulk up by acquiring 888 Holdings Plc. The
companies broke off talks in April after almost six months, a decision
analysts said at the time stemmed from concern about legal risks
after a U.S. crackdown on Web gambling last year.
"We were disappointed,'' Bell said. "Both sides had put
a lot of work in. The U.S. position was just too complex to give
us comfort.''
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