LONDON (Reuters) - British bookmaker Ladbrokes (LON:LAD) reported a better-than-expected 34 percent rise in first-half operating profit on Thursday, helped by some bookmaker-friendly sporting results.
The company, whose 2.3 billion pound merger with rival Coral was approved last month, posted group operating profit of 52.3 million pounds for the six months to end-June on revenue 13 percent higher at 661.8 million pounds.
Analysts at UBS were expecting first-half operating profit to come in at 49 million pounds, while Goodbody estimated 42 million pounds.