Richard Glynn, Chief Executive, commented:
"We are continuing to make progress with our plan to reinvigorate Ladbrokes.
The UK Retail business has performed strongly this year. OTC has continued to prove resilient in a weak economy with stakes marginally up on 2010. The contribution from machines has been excellent and we have grown profit per shop for a second consecutive year despite a comparatively poor gross win margin in the second half of 2011 and continued cost pressures. In 2012 we expect to build on this with further growth in machines, robust cost control, a renewed focus on local market competitiveness and the evolution of the retail customer experience.
In Digital, we are pleased to have seen acceleration in the growth of customer numbers. Sportsbook and casino sign ups and actives have increased strongly in H2 following the start of increased marketing investment in August. We are continuing to invest in technology to improve our trading capabilities, expand our range of products and improve our delivery to the customer. Mobile is delivering impressive growth with further product expansion and innovation to come throughout the year.
We have begun investing consistently in brand and Digital marketing and we will continue this investment process in 2012 having begun to see tangible benefits in 2011.
Whilst we remain cautious on the outlook for the economy, we are now starting to see real momentum within the business. We are planning for further growth in UK Retail and in Digital, we expect revenues to grow throughout the year as we build upon the positive growth in customer acquisition achieved to date. We have a number of important milestones in the next few months and are confident of delivering growth in profit during the second half of the year as the benefits from our investments combine."
