Ladbrokes LAD complains that at Cheltenham bookmaking principles were abandoned because of intense competition and that until then results had been favourable, At least that tells us that one of the main principles of the betting industry is that the bookie always wins and something has gone seriously wrong if they don’t. Similarly Ladbrokes is not looking forward to the end of the football season because it stands to lose 3 million pounds if Leicester wins the Premiership. So come on Leicester, do your best please.
Despite the unwelcome success of the punters, Ladbrokes had an encouraging start to the year with 3rd quarter net revenue up by 10.6% and digital net revenue by over 35%.
SKYplc SKY enjoyed a strong third quarter with strong demand from new customers producing excellent financial results Group revenue rose by 5% and operating profit by 12%. Germany and Austria led the way with a rise of 10% but Italy switched off with a 2% decline in revenue and 49% collapse in profitability.
Sky claims it is building Europe’s leading entertainment business. Looking at the rubbish on offer throughout most of Europe that should not be a particularly challenging task. Presumably “leading” will turn out to mean pandering to the lowest possible audience.
United Carpets UCG Final results will be ahead of expectations and it’s not often you hear that from the carpet industry. The improved trading seen in the first half has continued into the second half with like for like sales up by 6.4%
Go Ahead Group GOG keeps repeating in today’s update that 3rd quarter trading has been satisfactory. In fact it seems to have been a bit better than that with rail revenue up by 5.5%, 9.5% and 3% in its three rail divisions and passenger numbers up by 2.5%, 5% and 3% respectively. Regional and London buses were in line with expectations.
Computacenter CCC Revenue for the quarter to 31st March was flat. Uk revenue was down 4% due to the ending of a large contract.
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