Ladbrokes, Britain’s biggest bookmaker, will bid for more than half the 17 new casinos envisaged under the forthcoming Gambling Act, including the proposed supercasino in Manchester.

Chris Bell, the Ladbrokes chief executive, said he believed that the company’s chances of winning the supercasino bid were “as good as anybody else’s”, despite Manchester’s decision to designate Kerzner International as its preferred bidder.

Mr Bell pointed out that the Government had stipulated this week that the local authorities of all 17 new casinos must hold an open and fair competition to find a casino operator, even if they had already chosen partners.

The US giants Las Vegas Sands and Harrah’s International are also tipped to bid for Manchester, although Mr Bell said that he hoped that, as a British company, Ladbrokes would have a strong hand: “This is not going to be a home run for our friends from America,” he said.

The group indicated that it would work with Hilton International, the hotel business it sold last year, and Merlin Entertainments, the operator of the London Dungeon and Legoland theme parks, on its supercasino bid.

Mr Bell said that while the estimated £250 million to £300 million cost of the Manchester project would be borne by the developers, with Ladbrokes leasing the site, the other casinos it will bid for would be financed by the company itself at an average cost of about £25 million.

It is being advised by Alan Goodenough, the former chairman of London Clubs International, who worked with Ladbrokes on the opening last year of its £5 million casino in Paddington, West London.

Last month Ladbrokes bought out the 65 per cent stake in the casino held by Mr Goodenough and his business partner, David Seton, for £11.1 million.

Ladbrokes yesterday reported a 7.7 per cent increase in 2006 operating profits from continuing operations to £268.1 million. The gross win — the amount left behind by punters — reached £1 billion for the first time. It was up 9.9 per cent, on the back of a good World Cup.

At a pretax level, comparable profits rose by 6.2 per cent to £246.5 million. This excluded any contribution from the Hilton business or the one-off profit of £412.2 million profit that it booked on the £3.2 billion sale.

Although its internet gambling arm lifted operating profits by 13.5 per cent to £47 million, its estate of 2,141 UK betting shops suffered a 6 per cent decline to £195.4 million after a poor autumn. However, its telephone betting arm turned a loss of £100,000 into a profit of £17.7 million as high-rollers returned.

The first few weeks of the new financial year had been “satisfactory”, with good football results offsetting a large number of horserace cancellations due to the poor weather.

Mr Bell also outlined ambitious plans to expand in international markets including Italy, Spain, Vietnam and China. He said that he expected further European markets to be deregulated, depending on the outcome of legal challenges to state monoplies.

He predicted that within five years, Ladbrokes’ international and e-gaming operations would account for half of group turnover, up from about 20 per cent. Mr Bell added that discussions about a takoever of 888 Holdings continued.

Global gamble

Ladbrokes bets on international expansion
Ireland: has 195 shops, including 16 in Northern Ireland, with target of 250
Belgium: has 286 shops
Italy: runs four shops; plans for 200 within three years
Spain: has set up joint venture, initially to seek licences in Madrid
China: Consultantcy agreement with 400-shop Happy Pool chain; joint venture with Chinese sports lottery
Scandinavia: bought out Sponsio, an online partner
Vietnam: bidding for state betting monopoly venture

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