GVC Holdings have reported the slashing of the FOBT’s maximum bet in high street betting shops has had less impact as they first feared, after the new law came in to force on 1st April 2019, aimed at protecting vulnerable gamblers.
Shop Closures
GVC Holdings who own Ladbrokes Coral, have over 4,000 betting shops in the UK and employ over 30,000 people, feared the new law, which saw FOBT’s max bets slashed from £200 to £2, would have a huge impact on sales and feared they would have to close up to 1,000 shops and employees would lose their jobs.Ladbrokes Coral had initially forecast their revenue would be hit after the law changed on the maximum bet and the results were a £145M reduction. It was reported yesterday, the revenue has been revised to £130M in 2020. This forecast resulted in share prices in GVC Holdings rising.
Positive Results
MP’s and lobby groups had put enormous pressure on the Government to change the law, calling FOBT’s the ‘Social Blight’ or the ‘Crack Cocaine’ of the high street. Finally, on the 1st April 2019 saw the new law come in to force but so far, the results are better than any of the high street bookmakers could have predicted.William Hill, Paddy Power and a number of other smaller independent betting shops have all reported around a 40% reduction in profits.Kenny Alexander, Chief Executive GVC Holdings said, “ As we reported our trading update last month, we have had an excellent start to the year with strong momentum across all divisions continuing in to the second quarter.” “ We are making great progress on the Ladbrokes Coral integration and we have a clear roadmap for delivery in the US, where it remains early days, but there is no doubt that this is a great long-term opportunity for GVC.”