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UK
Casino Times
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News
26 August 2004
Gambling Boosts Hilton's
Profits
Bookmaker
Ladbrokes is continuing to boost profits for its parent
company, hotels group Hilton.
Hilton reported pre-tax
profits of £156.7m ($281.2m) for the six months to 30
June, up from £74.5m a year ago. The rise was mainly
due to strong growth in Ladbrokes' shops and internet
betting, although Hilton's hotels also showed modest signs
of recovery.
The hotels sector has been
hit in recent years by the Sars outbreak, terrorism fears
and the war in Iraq.
Although Hilton's outlook
for its hotels remained cautious the firm said there were
signs of an upturn.
The launch last year of
localised hotel websites in the UK, Germany, Japan and
Scandinavia had seen internet bookings more than double in
the first half of 2004, the company said. And overall room
occupancy at Hilton's hotels was up 5.6% in the first half
of the year.
UK and Ireland was one of
the strongest regions for the group, with London
particularly buoyant, enjoying a 9.4% rise in room
occupancy.
But David Michels, group
chief executive, said booking patterns remained late "making
forecasting difficult, particularly in some parts of
Europe".
France was among areas
where trading had been challenging. "We are probably in the
first year of recovery," Mr Michels told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme. "It will probably take two more years to recover
from the peak of 2000, but people, for business and
pleasure, have begun to travel again."
Hilton operates about 400
hotels in 80 countries worldwide outside the US and nearly
1,900 Ladbrokes betting shops in the UK.
Hilton said it has
continued to increase the size, number and opening hours of
its Ladbrokes betting shops in the UK and was introducing
new products such as virtual greyhound racing and live
betting on football.
Ladbrokes' gross win was
up 23% to £338m as betting terminals and internet
gambling continued to grow in popularity.
Fixed odds terminals,
incorporating computer casino betting, accounted for 59% of
the growth in the gross win, with the number of machines in
stores doubling in a year to 4,363.
Ladbrokes said it had
benefited from a good run of results at events including the
Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National and Euro
2004.
Online business continues
to "grow rapidly", with strong performance in poker and
internet casino games.
"The renaissance in
betting and gaming, driven by increased TV sports coverage
and innovative technology, will be fully exploited by
Ladbrokes who will continue to take a leading role in
consolidating the progress of recent years," it
added.
Related pages:
Hilton
Hopes High Of Casino Return
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