Ahead of its interim statement planned for August, Ladbrokes revealed it is anticipating a decline in profits for its digital business for the first half of the year.
Chief executive Richard Glynn said that the company’s investment programme, increased marketing expenditure, planned operational losses associated with new international licences and the withdrawal from other markets are likely to have hit profits for the six months to June 30.
This decline, he said, has been exacerbated by a “poor sportsbook margin” in the second quarter and by delays in the delivery of technology projects leading to lower than expected revenue for that period.
Digital profits are expected to be “down further than anticipated at around half that delivered in H1 2011,” he said.
“Despite this due to outperformance, particularly in the retail businesses we expect to meet market expectations for H1 and remain confident that ongoing development of the digital business will enable us to grow digital profits in 2013 and beyond,” he said.
