Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m furlough despite online boost

7 January 2022

ByBen King
Business reporter, BBC News

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

Accounts released on Thursday reveal that Ladbrokes declared ₤ 57.5 m in 2020, and the BBC understands it declared a more ₤ 44m this promotion code year.

Since the pandemic started moms and dad company Entain has really increased profits, driven by strong online growth.

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

The most significant claimers from the furlough plan were mostly those for whom Covid lockdowns implied high falls in income - airline companies, club companies, leisure groups, shops, dining establishments and catering services.

One business stands out in the list - Ladbrokes, the UK's largest operator of betting shops, 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 huge online gambling organization, and clients who could not bet in stores during the dark days of lockdown gathered to sites and apps instead.

Last April's Grand National broke the record for the biggest online sports betting occasion in the UK.

This suggested that in spite of lockdowns, Entain's 2020 revenues were the same from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even managed to record a revenue of ₤ 114m. In the first 9 months of 2021 incomes grew 8%.

Entain is likewise well placed to gain from the explosive development of online wagering in the US through its BetMGM joint venture.

₤ 102m furlough claim

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

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

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

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

A spokesperson for Entain stated: "The furlough scheme was a reasonable and extremely bet9ja's welcome offer policy intervention that helped us, as one of the nation's biggest retailers, to maintain the incomes of more than 14,000 retail associates on full pay.

"Whilst the infection is still with us and the outlook, although improving, is still far from particular, the Board will continue to keep the circumstance under review."

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

However rival bookie William Hill chose to return ₤ 24.5 m of furlough money in August 2020, mentioning the "strength of the post-lockdown healing."

Iain Duncan Smith MP, the vice chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, stated: "The greed of these business, that obtain large benefit from addicted bettors, never ceases to surprise.

"Any business with a clear sense of morality would right away hand this cash back to the UK taxpayer."

A variety of companies in other industries decided to return furlough funds when the impact of the pandemic showed less extreme than initially 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 claimed a minimum of ₤ 46.6 m in furlough

Betfred, which runs 1500 wagering stores, also made considerable furlough claims regardless of rising earnings.

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

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

The overall for the group amounts to between ₤ 46.6 m and ₤ 65.6 m, though these figures don't consist of any claims it may have made in October and November 2020.

Betfred Group saw turnover fall from ₤ 621m to ₤ 525m in the year ending 27 September 2020, the current figures available, as lockdowns required its shops to close.

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

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

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