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2008年2月28日 博彩518
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Bookmaker Ladbrokes beat analyst forecasts on Thursday as it took more than 180 million pounds ($357 million) from a handful of high-stakes gamblers and as its in-shop gaming machines continued to rake in cash.
Ladbrokes, with 2,200 UK betting shops, said pretax profit for the year to end-December rose to 344 million pounds from 238 million a year ago.
Gross win, its profit after paying out winnings, increased to 1.29 billion pounds from 990 million in 2006, while earnings before interest and tax rose to 420 million.
Its high-staking, over-the-phone gamblers continued to lose heavily. Profits from their telephone accounts jumped nearly 1,000 percent, adding more than 180 million pounds to profits.
The soaring profits were the main reason Ladbrokes topped analysts' forecasts of between 260.8 and 315 million pounds.
Its highly lucrative gaming machines, known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs), were the other key driver. Gross win from the video roulette, poker and blackjack machines rose 21 percent to 248 million pounds.
Ladbrokes said gross win in the first seven weeks of the new financial year, excluding its big-betting customers, was up 16 percent, while the woeful run of luck for the high rollers continued as Ladbrokes took another 36 million pounds off them.
"Ladbrokes has delivered final results significantly ahead of our expectations due to very strong high-roller performance," said Numis analyst Richard Carter, who moved his recommendation down to "Hold" from "Buy" based on recent share price rises.
"We think today's results and solid trading outlook will be well received."
Ladbrokes' shares, which have risen around 20 percent in the past month, were up 1.4 percent at 331.75 pence by 1150 GMT, having earlier spurted as high as 339p.
RISING COSTS
With bookmakers' costs rising, online competition increasing and the UK government saying it may look to clamp down on FOBTs, analysts remain nervy about the industry.
John O'Reilly, the firm's head of Internet betting, told Reuters the horse racing industry's setting up of Turf TV, a subscription-based live TV coverage service, and longer opening hours, would increase UK costs at more than double the rate of inflation.
"It (UK retail cost growth) will be no more than 7-8 percent. Cost growth, excluding evening opening and Turf TV, is down around the rate of inflation."
He added the firm would pump money into Internet advertising and special offers to lure online punters from other Web sites, and would try to get as many of its new shops in Italy and Spain open in time for football's Euro 2008 finals in June. |
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发表于 2008-2-29 06:40
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