LONDON (Alliance News) - Ladbrokes PLC on Thursday said group net revenue fell in the third quarter of 2015 as it faced a tough comparative period, and it reported a decline in earnings due to increased games duty and taxes.
The betting company reported a 0.7% fall in group net revenue in the three months ended September 30, but said it would have grown 2.0% excluding the FIFA World Cup which took place in the comparative period last year.
Earnings before interest and tax also declined 57% to GBP14.3 million, which Ladbrokes said was due to an increase in machine games duty, point of consumption tax and lower comparative margins.
Ladbrokes added that its proposed merger with Gala Coral is on track.
"It is early in our journey, but today's results reflect positive initial progress and customer traction with continued increases in staking and actives across Digital and improved staking trends in UK Retail driven by football and racing. Operating profit as expected is down reflecting continued headwinds from higher taxation as well as our increased marketing spend to build our customer base," Chief Executive Jim Mullen said in a statement.
"With sportsbetting at our core we see customers responding well to our products, our value and to our recently launched multi-channel offer. All these initiatives are part of the long-term plan for Ladbrokes with our targets based around delivery on hard financials for 2017," Mullen added.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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