SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Issuing its Q1 trading update (period ending 31 March), FTSE-listed bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral Group Plc continues its digital momentum, despite being impacted by unfavourable sporting results recorded during February and March.
Updating investors, Ladbrokes Coral detailed a 22% rise in group digital revenues, with its enlarged sportsbook division recording a 40% uplift in period net revenues.
However, the firm would record a slight dip in form within its UK and European retail divisions which saw staking declines of -2% (UK) and -3 (Eurobet division).
Detailing its retail declines, Ladbrokes Coral governance noted that its Eurobet Italia division had been impacted by severely unfriendly results recorded during February, whilst its UK Retail division faced a challenging UK highstreet environment.
The enlarged operator, which officially completed its merger last November continues its integration plan, detailing that it has now migrated ‘all key Digital systems’ into one unified platform. Furthermore, the company has commenced to move its business operations to its new headquarters in Stratford (London).
Commenting on Ladbrokes Coral’s Q1 2017 performance, group CEO Jim Mullen stated
“Trading in the period was in-line with our expectations. We see encouraging trends in Digital sportsbook and gaming with continued enthusiasm for our multi-channel products in all our major markets and over a million customers now signed up in the UK alone
“The online market remains highly competitive, although recent high-profile sporting events seem to indicate that as much emphasis is being placed on customer retention as is being placed on the acquisition of new customers. Our plan is to continue to use our data-driven marketing approach and leverage our market leading multi-channel capability to enhance returns.”
“We remain confident in the opportunities ahead for the business and in our ability to deliver the year in-line with our expectations.”
