USA PLANS FOR LADBROKES DEFERRED, BUT ITALY CALLS

(339) (25-August-2006)

Good numbers for first half of the year...and some interesting expansion plans for top Brit bookie firm

The giant Ladbrokes betting group is to shelve it's US Internet expansion plans for now, "In view of ongoing uncertainties within the U.S. legislative environment," Reuters reports this week.

The top tier British bookmaker made the announcement whilst releasing its first-half operating numbers Thursday, showcasing a credible 12 percent rise in profits of GBP 151.3 million in the six months to June 30, compared with GBP 134.7 million over the same period last year.

The group has other expansion plans in mind and is preparing to invest heavily in them, however. Spokesmen said that Ladbrokes had signed a joint venture agreement with Italian betting company Pianeta Scommesse , establishing it as a government-accredited bookmaker in Italy.

"We plan to invest around Euro 100 million ($128 million) to develop retail, internet and telephone betting propositions in Italy over the next 5 years," Chief Executive Chris Bell revealed.

Ladbrokes will start its five-year Italian investment plan by paying Euro 1.3 million for a 51 percent stake in a joint venture with Pianeta Scommesse. Italy has about 770 betting shops for a population comparable to that of the U.K., which has more than 8 000 bookmaking outlets, the British company said.

The investment in Pianeta Scommesse, Italy's fourth-biggest odds-setting service, gives Ladbrokes a legal basis to offer betting in the country, where total gambling sales were about Euro 28 billion last year, Chief Financial Officer Rosemary Thorne said in an interview, citing Italian government statistics.

Italy is liberalising its gambling market, which will increase the number of Italian betting outlets tenfold, according to Thorne. About 30 percent of the 7 000 new outlets will be dedicated betting shops, she said.

The firm said it had made further international progress in Vietnam, where it was on a shortlist of three to operate the sports lottery, and in Turkey, where it has formed a consortium with Intralot to bid for the Turkish national lottery.