A run of poor results has hit profits at bookmaker Ladbrokes, which is cutting 40 jobs at its Aintree telephone betting centre.

The betting chain reported a 3.9% fall in pre-tax profits for the six months to June 30 of £131.3m, but the figure widened to a 25.6% drop to £98.6m after one-off items and gambling by ‘high rollers.’

The company, which has more than 2,000 betting shops in the UK, said cancellations and poor margins in horse racing and a first ever loss making month on football added to pressure caused by recession.

Revenues at the telephone betting arm dropped 13.3% to £69.8m, including a 6.6% fall from high rollers to £60.7m.

Total operating profits from phone betting fell 35.1% to £57m. High rollers contributed £58.4m, which meant that excluding their contribution operating profits for the division plunged from £2.2m last time to a £1.4m loss.

A spokesman said 27 of the 40 job cuts from the 300 telephone betting staff will be redundancies and the rest will be achieved through natural wastage or redeployment.

The group stuck by annual profit forecasts.:

Source: Liverpool Daily Press

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