Ladbrokes, the UK's largest publicly quoted bookmaker, published its interim results for the first half of 2007 today and, despite record profits, its poker channel continued to underperform as a result of competition in Scandinavia and the UK.
"Our eGaming business continues to perform well, with good growth again in Sportsbook, Casino, and Games products. Poker continues to be impacted by the competitive environment in the Nordics and the UK," the company said.
Poker net revenue was £15.7 million, down £2.7 million, with increased competition affecting both player numbers and yield. Average monthly active player days fell by 14.9 percent to 422,000 and yield per unique active player fell 10.6 percent to £144. Localisation remains a focus and the company has delivered new software for Swedish and Danish languages in the first half, with four further languages planned by the end of 2007.
The first half of 2007 saw record operating profit of £195.0 million.
Ladbrokes pioneered live poker on European TV with its popular Ladbrokes Millions tournament and continues to have a strong presence in the European market.
