LONDON (Alliance News) - Ladbrokes PLC Tuesday said it made a loss in the first half of 2015, having made a profit in the first half of 2014, as its revenue slipped and it slashed its interim dividend.
The FTSE 250-listed bookmaker reported a pretax loss of GBP51.4 million in the six months ended June 30, after it made a profit of GBP27.7 million in the same period of the prior year. Revenue declined slightly to GBP588.8 million from GBP589.3 million.
Ladbrokes said it booked GBP78.9 million in costs associated with retail impairments, UK shop closures and examinership, which led to a loss in profit.
Ladbrokes will pay an interim dividend of 1.0p, a quarter of the 4.3p it paid the year before.
"Our first half results reflect the challenge facing Ladbrokes. While we have some encouraging customer trends, we need to reset the business and invest. The results clearly show why we need to change and why we need to do so quickly," Chief Executive Jim Mullen said in a statement.
"In July, we set out an organic plan to create a better business in 2017 with clear targets. While doing this removes the short-term thinking that had come to dominate our actions, we recognise it does create short-term impacts on our profitability," he added.
"The proposed merger with the Coral Group represents an exciting opportunity for the business but, with completion some way away, the focus for me and my team must be on the here and now of delivering on our organic plan, building a better Ladbrokes and driving performance towards our 2017 targets," Mullen said.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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