Ladbrokes benefits up highly on 'bookmaker friendly' results

Ladbrokes has reported a ₤ 25.2 m revenue for the very first 6 months of the year compared with last year's ₤ 51.4 m loss.

The bookmaker says this strong, external efficiency is in part due to "sporting gods" being on its side.

It cites a run of "bookmaker friendly" outcomes, like that of the European Championship, where England and Northern Ireland exited early.

Ladbrokes, which plans to merge with rival Coral, states a run of "consumer friendly" outcomes will follow.

It says it is in talks with prospective buyers for around 400 stores it has to bet9ja's welcome offer for the yohaig code merger to go through.

The outcomes reveal that consumers are reacting positively to the company's new method "at a time when the sporting gods have actually normally been on our side and we've delighted in some practical bookie friendly outcomes", said president, Jim Mullen.

"History would highly determine that such a run of outcomes in our favour would see customer staking suffer, however encouragingly these numbers strongly buck that trend and integrate strong staking and an excellent margin."

"However, 130 years of experience in sports wagering has actually revealed us that we will withstand a run of client friendly outcomes and margins will normalise," he added.

Biggest bookmaker

Ladbrokes, the UK's second-biggest bookmaker, revealed its organized ₤ 2.3 bm merger with Gala Coral, the third-biggest, in July in 2015.

The deal will make it the yohaig code largest bookie in the country, however last month the Competition and Markets Authority, external said it had actually determined 642 areas where the merger would hit competitors.

It stated the two companies need to bet9ja's welcome offer between 350 and 400 look for the merger to be cleared.

In its outcomes declaration, Ladbrokes stated it was "interesting" with possible purchasers and stayed hopeful that a competitive process might be finished by the end of September. It would then look to begin "significant" restructuring of business before completion of the year.

Ladbrokes' shares were up 5% in morning trading.