Ladbrokes Coral defies "sporting gods" as Q4 revenues soar
Recently-merged operator will report 2016 profits in line with expectations following strong end to the year
Ladbrokes Coral’s full-year group profits will be in line with expectations at approximately £280m, after the group’s online arm recorded double-digit Q4 revenue growth despite a recent poor run of sporting results.
Digital revenues for the three months ended 31 December 2016 increased 18% year-on-year, with Ladbrokes.com up 17% and Coral.co.uk up 13% compared to Q4 2015.
Meanwhile, the operator’s Ladbrokes Australia business posted an impressive 45% year-on-year rise in Q4 2016 revenues, following a 57% rise in stakes.
And despite Ladbrokes Coral’s retail arm posting a 4% fall in revenues, the operator expected full-year group profit would be in line with previous estimates of £275m-£285m – with legacy Gala Coral contributing the lion’s share of profits, £179m.
Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes Coral CEO, said he was happy with the company’s performance since the completion of the merger and that it had made “good progress” on the integration of the two businesses.
“While the sporting gods did not look favourably on us in the period [Q4 2016], it is pleasing to report that the business continued to perform well and that our full-year numbers will be in line with expectations,” he said.
“It has been an encouraging start to the life of Ladbrokes Coral Group. Good progress is being made on all the key integration workstreams. We saw continued growth in our Digital division with Australia going from strength to strength and further growth in multi-channel sign ups.”
The London-listed company, which completed its merger in October 2016, revealed that more than 140,000 multi-channel customers had signed up to either Coral Connect or the Ladbrokes Grid during the final quarter of the year.
Ladbrokes Coral’s strong Q4 and full-year performance means the group is now more profitable than rival William Hill, which earlier this month said profits for the 52-week period to 27 December would be in the region of £260m.
Ladbrokes Coral’s final historic proforma numbers will be issued in February 2017, while its final results announcement will be on 28 March.
The operator’s share price was up 3.05% to 128.30p on the London Stock Exchange at the time of writing.