Ladbrokes Q1 digital revenues soar 37%

Ladbrokes this morning reported a 37% year-on-year rise in Q1 online revenues following double-digit growth across both its sportsbook and gaming divisions.

The operator’s digital revenues were driven by a particularly strong performance from its sportsbook which recorded a 59% revenue rise, although this was against a poor set of Q1 2015 results when sports revenues fell 32%.

However, sports betting actives – including Exchange -for the three months ended 31 March 2016 increased 28%, while a 35% rise in stakes also helped offset one of the firm’s worst Cheltenham Festival’s “in living memory”.

Ladbrokes’ gaming business also reported a 38% increase in net revenue, its sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth, and Ladbrokes Australia revenues were up 38%.

“Since July 2015 we have been successfully implementing our strategic plan and the encouraging customer metrics we saw at the end of the year have continued during the first quarter of 2016,” Ladbrokes CEO, Jim Mullen, said.

“While we see plenty of evidence to support that our plan is working, our focus remains on delivering against our strategy and our 2017 targets,” Mullen continued.

However, Mullen remained cautious and highlighted a ?3m hit should Leicester City win the Premier League and a possible tax hike in Belgium.

Ladbrokes’s share price on the London Stock Exchange was 121.9p at the time of writing.