Ladbrokes showed a major decline in revenue from their digital poker business, according to the company’s half-year financial report, as compared to the previous year.
While the UK bookmaker has seen profits increase, fueled by the action brought by the World Cup, the online casino, poker, and bingo properties are all showing double-digit declines according to the same report.
Ladbrokes Poker Declines 59.5% Compared to 2013
In section 3 of the revenue report, which is publicly available, Ladbrokes breaks down their “Digital” properties. The good news in the report is that the Sportsbook revenue was up 15.4% which represents a gain of £6.3 million ($10.5 million USD).
When all the numbers are put together for all four segments of the digital side of the business, the company saw net revenue decline by £2.4 million ($4 million USD)
The bad news is that the casino, poker, and bingo properties are all showing big losses. The casino dipped £5.1 million ($8.51 million USD) compared to the previous year, representing a 14.3% decline, while bingo showed a slightly more modest £0.8 million ($1.3 million USD) loss, a 13.3% decline compared to the previous year.
Poker was the biggest loser by far for Ladbrokes for the half-year ending on June 30, 2014. During the same time period in 2013, the company brought in £4.2 million ($7 million USD). This past revenue period, the company only brought in £1.7 million ($2.84 million USD), a shocking 59.5% year-on-year change percentage in the wrong direction.
When all the numbers are put together for all four segments of the digital side of the business, the company saw net revenue decline by £2.4 million ($4 million USD), somewhat surprising since the site expected to see huge gains in traffic thanks to the World Cup and many promotions.
There is Good News for Ladbrokes
While the decline in revenue is certainly not good for those working and operating the company, or those who have invested in it, there were some bits of good news in the report. Total net revenue was £105 ($175 million USD), while the combination of betting taxes, joint venture losses and operating costs amounted to approximately £102 million ($170.1 million USD). Those figures mean that the total operating profit for the half-year was £3 million ($5 million USD).
Some might say that’s a win, considering how badly certain segments of the business went, but many investors are upset that the company couldn’t capitalize huge profits during the World Cup. The company stated that this past half-year saw the final integration of both Playtech products, which started last year. The new “Vegas” style casino games, as well as their mobile product, is expected to make dramatic positive gains in the near future.
Overall, the company focused much of its efforts to integrate many different Playtech technologies into their system to offer new products for players to enjoy, along with, “a new and comprehensive back office system.”
Mobile Focus Key for Ladbrokes
One small section of the report gives away a mountain of information regarding the focus Ladbrokes is giving to the mobile platform. In the report it states that, “We have continued to develop our new mobile sportsbook product through our Ladbrokes innovation Lab alongside Chelsea Apps Factory on the Mobenga platform.
Mobile sportsbook actives were up 74%… and amounts staked were up 105% and comprised 60% of Sportsbook stakes in June.” The World Cup certainly played its part for Ladbrokes, comprising 64% of total sportsbook stakes. The company stated that they had 164,000 actives playing just on mobile platforms during the World Cup, with the company now focusing on customer retention, heading into the new English Premier League season.
