Poll results: Ladbrokes digital struggles set to continue

Ladbrokes digital woes show no sign of abating with the operator set to continue to struggle to gain market share in the all-important UK market, respondents to this week’s eGaming Review poll have said.

Last week Ladbrokes released its 2014 results in which the operator revealed a 70% hike in online operating profit to £14m and a 23% increase in net revenues to £215.1m.

But despite the year-on-year increase, the operator, which has been blighted by its protracted migration to Playtech’s software and backend IMS system, still remains someway behind 2012 levels, a year in which it posted profits of £31.8m.

Ladbrokes is confident that, with the migration now complete, it is now ready to compete on an even keel with rivals and accelerate revenue growth throughout the year.

However, the recent introduction of the UK Point of Consumption tax is expected to hit the firm hard and Ladbrokes has already conceded that it is “unlikely” to grow profits in 2015 beyond the £14m posted last year, with analysts projecting EBITDA of around £5m.

And with the firm yet to announce its successor to CEO Richard Glynn, who is set to depart in the coming months, all eyes will be whether the new chief executive will want to change strategy and implement their own ideas.

With this in mind, eGR this week asked whether Ladbrokes 2014 improvement was a sign the firm had turned a corner.

The majority of respondents (59%) remain unconvinced and believe the firm will struggle to wrestle market share away from rivals in its core UK market.

One fifth of readers (21%) were undecided and suggested that while some areas of the business may have improved, there were still many challenges that lay ahead for the operator.

Meanwhile 20% of respondents took a more optimistic view and said that, with the Playtech product suite now in place, the firm has everything at its disposal to achieve strong growth.