Ladbrokes mobile peaks at 60% of revenue

Ladbrokes focuses on mobile as sportsbook app performs well following Mobenga relaunch

Strong growth in mobile since its relaunch on the Mobenga platform has seen as much as 60% of Ladbrokes’ digital gross win coming through mobile channels on “some weekends”, the firm’s CEO Richard Glynn told analysts this morning.

Ladbrokes relaunched its mobile sportsbook on the Playtech-owned Mobenga platform in December and since then it has reported a 93% increase in amounts staked and 123% increase in sign-ups.

Mobile actives has increased by 35% and the iOS app has already achieved 40% of the total downloads the firm recorded in the whole of 2013.

Mobile was one of the few highlights in an otherwise disappointing set of results where digital profits fell 74% to £8.2m for the year ending December 2013.

For the full year 2013 mobile stakes were up by 23.3% and amounts staked accounts for 31% of sportsbook revenue.

And Ladbrokes said it would be focusing on mobile with “mobilisation of the Ladbrokes brands” key to its success in 2014 and mobile “offering the greatest growth opportunity”.

Ladbrokes wrote off over £10m in investment in its in-house mobile platform over the course of 2013 as it moved to Mobenga and is investing further in its new mobile development centre in London.

Ladbrokes formed a partnership with Chelsea Apps Factory late last year to accelerate development of new mobile apps through the firm’s new Innovation Lab.