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Ladbrokes Claimed ₤ 102m Furlough Despite Online Boost

Ladbrokes declared ₤ 102m furlough despite online increase

7 January 2022

ByBen King
Business reporter, BBC News

Bookmaker Ladbrokes declared ₤ 102m from the furlough plan, in spite of rapid growth in online betting making up for all losses from the closure of stores.

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

Since the pandemic started moms and dad business Entain has actually increased incomes, driven by strong online growth.

Entain stated the yohaig code cash secured 14,000 tasks, and is “under evaluation.”

The most significant claimers from the furlough scheme were primarily those for whom Covid lockdowns implied high falls in revenue – airlines, pub companies, leisure groups, stores, dining establishments and catering services.

One business sticks out in the list – Ladbrokes, the UK’s biggest operator of betting shops, with 2,845 premises branded Ladbrokes or Coral.

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

Its moms and dad company, FTSE 100-listed gaming giant Entain, has a big online betting business, and clients who couldn’t bet in stores throughout the dark days of lockdown flocked to websites and apps instead.

Last April’s Grand National broke the yohaig code record for the biggest online sports betting event in the UK.

This meant that in spite of lockdowns, Entain’s 2020 revenues were the same from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even handled to tape-record an earnings of ₤ 114m. In the first 9 months of 2021 revenues grew 8%.

Entain is also well positioned to benefit from the explosive growth of online betting in the US through its BetMGM joint venture.

₤ 102m furlough claim

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

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

The BBC understands the company declared around ₤ 44m in 2021, taking the total to ₤ 102m.

According to BBC analysis of data published by HMRC, that would be one of the 20 biggest furlough claims for 2021.

A representative for Entain said: “The furlough scheme was a sensible and extremely bet9ja’s welcome offer policy intervention that assisted us, as one of the country’s biggest retailers, to maintain the livelihoods of more than 14,000 retail coworkers on complete pay.

“Whilst the virus is still with us and the outlook, although enhancing, is still far from specific, the Board will continue to keep the scenario under review.”

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

However rival bookie 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 companies, that derive vast make money from addicted gamblers, continues to surprise.

“Any company with a clear sense of morality would immediately hand this refund to the UK taxpayer.”

A variety of business in other industries chose to return furlough funds when the effect of the pandemic proved less extreme than initially feared – consisting of housebuilders Redrow, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, Games Workshop, and distribution giant 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 operates 1500 betting stores, likewise made substantial furlough claims in spite of rising revenues.

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

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

The total for the group amounts to in 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, raised by some one-off gains including ₤ 98m arising from a successful lawsuit versus HMRC for VAT paid on fixed-odds wagering terminals from 2005 to 2013.

A Betfred spokesperson said: “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.”

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