Ladbrokes Coral delivered a promising trading update to the markets on Wednesday, pushing shares up over 3 percent in early trading.
The bookmakers confirmed that full year operating profit will be in line with expectations, despite warning of poor sporting results in December. Operating profit for the group is expected to be within the range of £275 million – £285 million, with £101 million coming from Ladbrokes and £179 million from Gala Coral, which the group acquired last year for £2.2 billion.
Net revenue was 17 percent ahead of the same quarter last year, with Coral.co.uk net revenue was 13 percent ahead.
Jim Mullen, the group’s CEO, said that “whilst the sporting gods did not look favourably on us in the period”, “the last quarter of 2016 was one of significant activity with the completion of the merger, good progress on integration along with the necessary shop disposals and a busy sporting schedule.”
“It is pleasing to report that the business continued to perform well and that our full year numbers will be in-line with expectations.
“It has been an encouraging start to the life of Ladbrokes Coral Group plc. Good progress is being made on all the key integration workstreams. We saw continued growth in our Digital division with Australia going from strength to strength and further growth in multi-channel sign ups. We remain confident in our plans for 2017 and on delivering the opportunities identified in the merger.”
Ladbrokes Coral (LON:LCL) shares are currently up 3.11 percent at 128.37 (0942GMT).