A winning run for punters and the introduction of new taxes left Ladbrokes nursing a sharp fall in quarterly profits today.
The UK second biggest betting firm, which runs 2,194 shops, said earnings in the three months to March 31 fell 22.3 per cent to £14.3 million after gamblers enjoyed three winning weeks when favourites won on Premier League football and had a good Cheltenham Festival.
The firm put its Irish business, which runs 196 shops and employs 840 staff, into examinership allowing it to restructure the loss-making business.
New boss Jim Mullen, who is originally from Glasgow and only took over a few weeks ago, said he will bring forward the presentation of his turnaround plan by two months to June.
The business was impacted by the March 1 increase in machine gaming duty from 20 per cent to 25 per cent and the recent levy of a point of consumption tax. It has also withdrawn from unregulated digital markets.
It added it had suffered "significant single digit millions" of losses from a small number of high rolling gamblers. The firm said its win margin was "well below" its target of 16.5 per cent to 17 per cent.
The firm added it had closed 15 shops during the period, and was on track to close 60 in the year.
Mr Mullen said: "In the first quarter many of our customer metrics are encouraging but results have favoured customers and profits are materially down.
"These results demonstrate the challenges we continue to face. We need to change the way we run the business, build scale, primarily in digital and respond faster to the customer and changes in the market place."
He added: "The decision to seek examinership in Ireland demonstrates the seriousness of our intent and the speed with which we will execute."
Mr Mullen replaced Richard Glynn, who had been in post for five years, and is tasked with upgrading Ladbrokes online and mobile betting, which has fallen behind rivals such as William Hill.
Shore Capital broker Greg Johnson said: "Overall, we are pleased with the continued progress underlying although unfavourable sporting results are likely to put pressure on full year pre-tax profit estimates of £72 million."
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