Ladbrokes Shares Fall 0.7 Percent on News of Huge Profit Plunge

Bookmaker Ladbrokes fell 0.7 percent on news of a 44-percent drop in adjusted first-half profit to 24.7 million pounds, reflecting less betting on football and a string of customer-friendly results. Its update was in-line with guidance.

The betting giant had already warned that its revenues were flat at £588.8 million coming into Tuesday's announced financials report.

Ladbrokes and a number of its competitors were also hit by Chancellor George Osborne’s tax raids in December and March.

Osborne introduced a "point of consumption tax" this past December whereby bets placed in Great Britain are now subject to a 15 per cent levy.  An amendment in the March budget increased the tax on fixed-odds betting terminals, often referred to the "crack cocaine of gambling".

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com