Ladbrokes suffers worst Cheltenham Festival in memory

21 April 2016

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has stated this promotion code year's Cheltenham Festival was its "worst in living memory".

All bookies were struck by a string of favourites winning at the celebration, however Ladbrokes likewise argued that competitors were providing bets at levels that did not make business sense.

Ladbrokes likewise validated that it has a ₤ 3m liability if Leicester City win the Premier League.

Despite this promotion code, the company stated it had actually seen a motivating start to the year.

Revenue was more than 10% higher.

Chief executive Jim Mullen stated: "At Cheltenham we were reminded of the intense competition with offers and pricing at levels which, in our view, deserted bookmaking concepts.

"We competed difficult but declined to pursue unsustainable strategies."

He told the BBC gaming was for his clients, not his service: "I've always stated we remain in the betting company, we don't bet ... I believed Cheltenham was a race to the bottom."

The company stated the Grand National winner, Rule The World, which was a 33/1 shot, delivered a welcome contrast to Cheltenham.

Ladbrokes stated it was "confident" that its outcomes would be in line with expectations.

'Recreational punter'

Last year Ladbrokes announced strategies to combine with its smaller sized rival, Coral.

UK competition authorities are presently taking a look at the offer.

Steve Clayton, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said the most recent trading declaration from Ladbrokes was encouraging, however the genuine issue was whether the merger with Coral would be permitted: "A merged Ladbrokes and Coral will have a dominant retail position, even if lots of stores have to be offered off.

"We anticipate considerable cost conserving will be possible since there will be large areas of overlap and unnecessary duplication of functions across the combined organization."

Ladbrokes is pursuing a different strategy to that of its rivals by concentrating on customer care and the periodic punter, who will not necessarily hunt for the yohaig code very best chances.

Mr Clayton stated: "The bookmaker's method is to concentrate on the 'recreational punter', in other words the still soft and malleable, unhardened bettors out there.

"These individuals do not understand what the right odds must be, so it is much easier to develop a fat win margin into the bookmaker's terms."