Double Taxation Leads to Ladbrokes First Half Year Slump: Results Released

Investors are cringing ahead of UK bookmaker Ladbrokes release of first year financials Tuesday.

The betting giant has already warned that its revenues were flat at £588.8 million.

Not only did punters perform favorably during the first half of 2015, Ladbrokes and a number of its competitors were also hit by Chancellor George Osborne’s tax raids in December and March.

Osborne introduced a "point of consumption tax" this past December whereby bets placed in Great Britain are now subject to a 15 per cent levy.  An amendment in the March budget increased the tax on fixed-odds betting terminals, often referred to the "crack cocaine of gambling".

Ladbrokes telephone wagering the first half of this year also witnessed a slump.

The interim dividend has been cut from 4.3p to 1p a share. CEO Jim Mullen is also looking to cut up to £7 million in annual operating costs. 
Ladbrokes is in the midst of a £2.3 billion takeover of rival Gala Coral.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com