Who is winning the betting war: Ladbrokes or William Hill? – Telegraph
Interesting article here from the Telegraph on the ongoing battle between old rivals William Hill and Ladbrokes. Not surprisingly it’s Hills, the UK’s biggest bookmaker, that leads the way – but Ladbrokes’ chief exec still seems to be in the firing line from his board and shareholders.
What’s interesting, if you follow the link to the source, is to see the charts that show where the revenue comes from. Whereas Ladbrokes are relying almost entirely on their betting shops, have a look at how much William Hill are making from their online operation. It’s close to overtaking their shops as their main income generator. A sure sign that William Hill’s online efforts are way more successful than Laddies.
Anyone who has used the Hills website or app should not be surprised by this. Both are way better than the Ladbrokes equivalent. In particular, it’s the football betting at Hills that is so popular with the online punters thanks to their free bet and range of offers, it simply blows Ladbrokes away. They might have Chris Kamara on board for their ads, but it seems Ladbrokes are going to have to do a lot more with their digital product if they’re to overtake Wlliam Hill any time soon….
Ladbrokes’ chief executive Richard Glynn faces a showdown with investors as he seeks to persuade them that he has done enough to improve the bookmakers’ digital business.
The betting chief’s case will not be helped by the fact Ladbrokes’ fiercest rival, William Hill, has also reported half-year results in the last fortnight. Here we look at how their performances have compared over the last six months and how they generating their operating profits.
The vast majority of Ladbrokes’ operating profit, which totalled £56.8m in the six months to June 30 after £11.1m of corporate costs are subtracted, still comes from UK high street betting shops.
The bookmaker last year struck a deal with Playtech, the gaming software firm which helped to grow William Hill’s online business, in order to grow its share of operating profit from bets placed digitally – either through mobile phones or online.
By comparison, William Hill’s online operation generated £81.1m of operating profit in the 26 weeks to July 1 – more than Ladbrokes’ entire operating profit during the period.
Total operating profit at William Hill, Britain’s biggest bookmaker with 2,362 UK betting shops, reached £176.9m during the half-year once corporate costs were taken out, although this was down on the £181.4m achieved during the same period the previous year.
via Who is winning the betting war: Ladbrokes or William Hill? – Telegraph.
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