Casino and bingo bolster Lads Q1 revenues
A poor Cheltenham and lower-than-expected sports and poker numbers have been offset by rising casino and bingo results, Ladbrokes said during its first quarter results.
A “poor Cheltenham” and sliding sports and poker performance failed to dent Ladbrokes’ first quarter with casino and bingo bolstering its financials for the first three months of 2011.
Online net gaming revenue was up 1.2% during the period helped by growth in casino (net revenue up 23.9%) and bingo (up 18.8%), however despite the amount staked with Ladbrokes’ online sportsbook climbing 6.4%, with in-play contributing 48% compared to 41% in Q1 2010, its sports revenue dipped 5.3% on the back of a poor Cheltenham festival and its high exposure to horse racing.
Poker also suffered in the first quarter with net revenue down 32.8% year-on-year, although it did display a quarter-on-quarter growth of 18.1%.
Its mobile performance grew substantially representing 11% of total sportsbook amounts staked in the first quarter, something which will no doubt please CEO Richard Glynn after he marked out mobile as a key area of development in February.
Two months ago, Glynn said the company was looking to renegotiate its core supplier contracts, and was looking to become an “e-enabled, international betting and gaming business.”
Ladbrokes also announced the appointment of Ian Bull as its new CFO this morning. Bull joins the bookmaker on 4 July from brewer Greene King where he has been group finance director since 2006. His appointment is the first the company has made since November’s major reshuffle.
Group net revenue including both on and offline operations but excluding high rollers for the period was up 2.3%, with group operating profit, also excluding high rollers, up 1.9%.