Ladbrokes boosted ahead of Euro 2016

ENGLAND football manager Roy Hodgson’s crop of young stars is attracting cash ahead of the European Championship, Ladbrokes boss Jim Mullen said today.

Bright displays in recent friendlies have tempted punters into 9/1 shots England, though France stay favourites for the summer tournament. “We expect to be giving away money in the first half of the tournament and hopefully making it back in the second,” said Mullen.

The Laddies boss was “crying” over a worst-ever Cheltenham festival, though some punters took the better prices on offer elsewhere, meaning stakes taken in its betting shops fell 1.3%. But Leicester and Spurs topping the Premier League remains a fantastic result for the industry, lifting online and shop margins and leaving UK revenues up 10.4% in the first three months of the year.

Ladbrokes is working on a £2 billion-plus merger with Coral but competition authorities will not decide how many of both groups’ 4000 shops will be sold until next month.