Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m furlough regardless of online boost
7 January 2022
ByBen King
Business reporter, BBC News
Bookmaker Ladbrokes claimed ₤ 102m from the furlough scheme, regardless of fast growth in online betting offseting all losses from the closure of shops.
Accounts published on Thursday show that Ladbrokes declared ₤ 57.5 m in 2020, and the BBC comprehends it declared a further ₤ 44m this promotion code year.
Since the pandemic started moms and dad business Entain has in fact increased earnings, driven by strong online development.
Entain said the cash safeguarded 14,000 jobs, and is "under evaluation."
The greatest claimers from the furlough plan were mainly those for whom Covid lockdowns meant steep falls in revenue - airline companies, pub companies, leisure groups, shops, restaurants and catering services.
One business stands apart in the list - Ladbrokes, the UK's biggest operator of betting stores, 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 video gaming giant Entain, has a big online betting service, and consumers 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 most significant online sports betting event in the UK.
this promotion code implied that regardless of lockdowns, Entain's 2020 incomes were the same from the year before at ₤ 3.6 bn, and it even managed to tape a profit of ₤ 114m. In the first nine months of 2021 incomes grew 8%.
Entain is also well put to gain from the explosive growth of online wagering in the US through its BetMGM joint endeavor.
₤ 102m furlough claim
Despite a strong monetary performance, Ladbrokes made a big furlough claim.
Accounts for Ladbrokes Gaming and Betting Ltd, a subsidiary company of Entain, filed with Companies House and released on Thursday show that it claimed ₤ 57.5 m of furlough in 2020.
the yohaig code BBC comprehends the business claimed around ₤ 44m in 2021, taking the total to ₤ 102m.
According to BBC analysis of information published by HMRC, that would be among the 20 biggest furlough claims for 2021.
A representative for Entain stated: "the yohaig code furlough plan was a sensible and highly welcome policy intervention that helped us, as one of the nation's largest sellers, 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 specific, the yohaig code Board will continue to keep the scenario under review."
Entain is legally entitled to declare the cash, and there is no idea that it did anything incorrect in making the claim or keeping the money.
However competing bookie William Hill chose to return ₤ 24.5 m of furlough cash in August 2020, mentioning the "strength of the post-lockdown recovery."
Iain Duncan Smith MP, the vice chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said: "The greed of these companies, that derive large make money from addicted bettors, never ever stops to surprise.
"Any business with a clear sense of morality would immediately hand this money back to the UK taxpayer."
A number of companies in other markets chose to return furlough funds when the impact of the yohaig code pandemic showed less serious than initially feared - including housebuilders Redrow, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, Games Workshop, and distribution giant Bunzl.
Flutter, owner of the Paddy Power betting stores, did not tap the furlough scheme at all.
Betfred declared at least ₤ 46.6 m in furlough
Betfred, which operates 1500 wagering shops, also made significant furlough claims in spite of increasing profits.
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 someplace between ₤ 18.5 m and ₤ 37.5 m from Dec 2020 to May 2021, according to HMRC information (which just provides a range, not a specific figure).
The total for the group adds up to between ₤ 46.6 m and ₤ 65.6 m, though these figures don't include 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 current figures readily available, as lockdowns forced its stores to close.
However the yohaig code group still made significant revenues, up from ₤ 171m to ₤ 205m, lifted by some one-off gains consisting of ₤ 98m arising from a successful court case 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 needed to make a single redundancy due to the yohaig code pandemic and we will continue to invest in our shops on the high street."
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