Ladbrokes Coral hit by Premier League giants' success

Ladbrokes Coral today blamed a string of predictable Premier League results for denting performance at its High Street outlets.

But shares in the bookie increased 2.9%, or 3.5p, to 122.6p as the newly merged gambling giant revealed its coming together will save them more.

Last year’s merger of Ladbrokes and Coral will bring £150 million a year in cost cuttings, mainly in its buying, marketing and tech divisions, up from £100 million originally estimated.

Chief executive Jim Mullen said: “Digital performed well and cost savings from the merger will now be well over double the level initially announced.”

The firm posted a 6% fall in revenues at its UK stores between January and June and bets were down 7%. Some of this was due to predictable football wins hitting bookies in the pocket.

The Premier League’s biggest teams finished the season strongly with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus winning their leagues.

Ladbrokes, with rivals, is struggling to grow sales at its stores due to competition from online rivals. But first-half group revenue increased by 1% boosted by a 17% increase in net revenue for the digital business.

Ladbrokes is also facing a review into fixed-odds betting terminals.