The strong performance of Ladbrokes’ high street betting shops helped the bookmaker to an eight per cent increase in operating profit to £206m pounds for 2012, compared with a forecast for £204m.
Delays upgrading technology meant that profits from the digital division, in which Ladbrokes has recently invested £50m, fell below expectations, dropping 39 per cent to £32m last year.
Announcing its 2012 figures, the company said it was seeing evidence it was making up for lost time in online and also expected new sports betting and mobile platforms to be launched in the first half of 2013.
