Sports Betting Ireland: Ladbrokes Hit Hard by Cheltenham

A record number of winning punters caused Ladbrokes Ireland sports betting operations to see profits fall by a third to £3.8 million from £5.7 million during the same period in 2010..  Nevertheless, the company did say its Irish expansion did continue during the first half of the year. 

Ladbrokes blamed wins in the Cheltenham and Royal Ascot for the losses.  It cited 13 Irish—trained winners at the Cheltenham national hunt racing festival in March and the tendency for punters in Ireland to wager on their own. 

Ladbrokeswon £39.8 million from its Irish punters in the first half of this year, down 3.4 per cent on the same period in 2010. It also had a £400,000 increase in operating costs.

The amount staked by its Irish customers in the first six months of the year grew by over 9 per cent to £382.5 million. The over-the-counter share of this was £308 million, up 5.3 per cent.

Overall net revenues were down more than 3 per cent at £483.1 million in the first half of the year.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com