Ladbrokes plays down £36m Northern Ireland loss

Ladbrokes has moved to allay fears over its Northern Ireland arm after figures showed the business suffered a loss of £36 million (€46 million/$51.3 million).

According to the Belfast Telegraph newspaper, Ladbrokes subsidiary Northwest Bookmakers recorded the loss in the 12 months through to December 2014.

Trading as Ladbrokes PLC, the company is the largest bookmaker in Northern Ireland and holds approximately one quarter of all retail betting shop licences.

In a statement, a Ladbrokes spokesman said that the figure was a “result of an accounting treatment on our retail estate, not an indicator on problems in the performance of our Northern Ireland business”.

In its latest set of accounts, the business showed an impairment charge of £44 million for the year, but also said “with the exception of the post balance sheet event, there have been no significant events since the year end”.

Ladbrokes is currently in talks regarding a merger agreement with Gala Coral, with the deal widely expected to be concluded soon.

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