Ladbrokes Claimed ₤ 102m Furlough Despite Online Boost

Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m furlough regardless of online increase

7 January 2022

ByBen King
Business press reporter, BBC News

Bookmaker Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m from the furlough scheme, despite rapid growth in online wagering making up for all losses from the closure of shops.

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Accounts released on Thursday reveal that Ladbrokes declared ₤ 57.5 m in 2020, and the BBC comprehends it claimed an additional ₤ 44m this promotion code year.

Since the pandemic started parent company Entain has in fact increased revenues, driven by strong online growth.

Entain said the cash secured 14,000 tasks, and is "under review."

The biggest claimers from the furlough plan were primarily those for whom Covid lockdowns suggested steep falls in revenue - airlines, pub business, leisure groups, stores, dining establishments and caterers.

One business stands apart in the list - Ladbrokes, the UK's largest operator of betting stores, with 2,845 properties branded Ladbrokes or Coral.

For though it needed to close them for big parts of 2020 and 2021, it had a lifeline - online.

Its moms and dad business, FTSE 100-listed video gaming giant Entain, has a big online gaming company, and consumers who couldn't bet in stores during the dark days of lockdown gathered to websites and apps rather.

Last April's Grand National broke the record for the greatest online sports wagering event in the UK.

this promotion code suggested that despite lockdowns, Entain's 2020 profits were unchanged from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even handled to record a revenue of ₤ 114m. In the yohaig code very first 9 months of 2021 earnings grew 8%.

Entain is likewise well placed to take advantage of the explosive development of online betting in the US through its BetMGM joint endeavor.

₤ 102m furlough claim

Despite a strong financial performance, Ladbrokes made a big furlough claim.

Accounts for Ladbrokes Gaming and Betting Ltd, a subsidiary business of Entain, filed with Companies House and released on Thursday reveal that it claimed ₤ 57.5 m of furlough in 2020.

the yohaig code BBC understands the business declared around ₤ 44m in 2021, taking the overall to ₤ 102m.

According to BBC analysis of information released by HMRC, that would be one of the 20 most significant furlough claims for 2021.

A spokesperson for Entain said: "The furlough plan was a sensible and highly bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that helped us, as one of the country's largest merchants, to preserve the incomes of more than 14,000 retail associates on complete pay.

"Whilst the infection is still with us and the outlook, although enhancing, is still far from particular, the Board will continue to keep the scenario under evaluation."

Entain is lawfully entitled to declare the cash, and there is no recommendation that it did anything incorrect in making the claim or keeping the cash.

However rival bookmaker William Hill opted to return ₤ 24.5 m of furlough money in August 2020, pointing out the "strength of the post-lockdown healing."

Iain Duncan Smith MP, the vice chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said: "The greed of these business, that obtain large profits from addicted bettors, continues to surprise.

"Any business with a clear sense of morality would immediately hand this promotion code cash back to the UK taxpayer."

A number of business in other markets opted to return furlough funds when the impact of the pandemic proved less severe than at first feared - consisting of housebuilders Redrow, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, Games Workshop, and distribution huge Bunzl.

Flutter, owner of the Paddy Power wagering shops, did not tap the furlough plan at all.

Betfred declared at least ₤ 46.6 m in furlough

Betfred, which runs 1500 wagering shops, also made significant furlough claims regardless of increasing revenues.

It declared ₤ 28.1 m in furlough the year ending 27 Sep 2020, according to business accounts.

In addition, a Betfred subsidiary business, Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd, claimed somewhere in between ₤ 18.5 m and ₤ 37.5 m from Dec 2020 to May 2021, according to HMRC information (which just gives a variety, not a particular figure).

The overall for the group adds up to between ₤ 46.6 m and ₤ 65.6 m, though these figures do not consist of any claims it might have made in October and November 2020.

Betfred Group saw turnover fall from ₤ 621m to ₤ 525m in the year ending 27 September 2020, the most recent figures offered, as lockdowns forced its stores to close.

However the group still made substantial revenues, up from ₤ 171m to ₤ 205m, lifted by some one-off gains including ₤ 98m resulting from a successful lawsuit against HMRC for VAT paid on fixed-odds betting terminals from 2005 to 2013.

A Betfred spokesman stated: "Thanks to the Government's Job Retention [furlough] Scheme we have not needed to make a single redundancy due to the pandemic and we will continue to invest in our shops on the high street."