You may have thought Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn was too busy puffing out his chest after his company posted higher operating profits in 2010, but he’s already working on plans to better those numbers. Concerned that his company is “not currently receiving the best industry terms” from its core suppliers (Microgaming – poker/casino; OpenBet – sportsbook; VirtueFusion – bingo), Glynn wants to renegotiate terms with all of them. It’s not known how much time is left until each of these existing contracts expires. Glynn says he wants “the best deals with the best parties,” which suggests he’s already shopping around, but stressed that if his current suppliers were amenable to talking, they would “benefit very well” from any new deal.
While Glynn is looking forward, Ladbrokes’ past has also been making news. Cyril Stein, who (along with Max Parker) acquired Ladbrokes in 1956 for £100k, died in Jerusalem on Tuesday at the age of 82. Stein took the company public in 1967, by which time it was valued at £1m. By the time Stein left the firm in 1993, it was valued at £2b. Not for nothing did he once describe betting as a business with “three windows taking money in and only one paying it out.”
Speaking of dying, Liberium Capital are recommending you dump your Betfair stock ahead of the company’s next quarterly-filing on March 8. The brokers at Liberium believe Betfair is ripe for a fall this quarter due to event cancellations stemming from the dodgy winter weather and ‘headwinds’ blowing back their poker business. Betfair is currently trading at 918p, but Liberium think 850p is a more accurate reflection of the betting exchange’s value.
