Betting company Ladbrokes saw profits increase 61.1% in the half year up to June 30, it announced today.
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Ladbrokes hailed the “sporting gods” as the bookmaker moved back into the black in the first half of the year, helped by England’s embarrassing exit from Euro 2016.
Euro 2016 also offered a favourable result for the bookies as it recorded strong trading through-out the tournament which was ultimately won by Portugal while money piled in behind hosts France and World Cup holders Germany.
The betting company has reported pre-tax profits of £25.2m for the first half of the year, compared to £51.4m in losses for the same period last year.
The Premier League victory by the 5,000-1 outsiders cost Ladbrokes about 3 million pounds ($4 million), it said on Thursday, but the triumphs of Leicester and other underdogs through the season cost many more customers their bets on the likelier winners.
Online, in particular, performed well, with total digital net revenue increasing 40.9% to £158.1 million.
Ladbrokes added the results were boosted by its investment strategy and by a run of favourable sporting results.
Last month the Competition and Markets Authority ordered the pair to offload 350 to 400 high street stores as a condition of the deal.
Ladbrokes said the confidence had prompted it to slightly increase its full-year profit expectations.
“History would strongly dictate that such a run of results in our favour would see customer staking suffer, but encouragingly these numbers firmly buck that trend and combine strong staking and a good margin”.
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“We will continue to compete hard on pricing, product and customer services and maintain a relentless focus on meeting and exceeding customer expectations”, he explained.
