28/12/2006 Ladbrokes awarded 142 new betting licences in Italy

Ladbrokes has been awarded a total of 142 new betting licences in Italy, following its recent tender application. The new betting licences are as follows:

• 33 dedicated horseracing licences (betting centres)
• 58 dedicated sports betting licences (betting centres)
• 51 non-dedicated sports betting licences (betting points)

The 51 non-dedicated licences or betting points refer to outlets such as newsagents, bars or cafes where franchisees will offer a Ladbrokes betting service as an additional product to their core business. Ladbrokes expects the first of its new licences to become operational within three months.

The new licences are spread geographically throughout Italy.

In addition, the company has successfully applied for remote betting licences for horseracing and sport, which were issued on a non-competitive basis to companies that complied with regulatory standards.

Ladbrokes' strategy is to establish an Italian retail estate through both new licences awarded in the tender process and acquisition of existing centres. During November, Ladbrokes acquired three betting centres in Turin, representing its first steps into the Italian market. These centres started trading under Ladbrokes ownership in early December 2006. Ladbrokes continues to be in discussions to acquire further betting centres.

Ladbrokes announced earlier this year that it had established a joint venture partnership with the Italian odds provider Pianeta Scommesse. The JV established Ladbrokes as a Government-accredited provider to betting centres in the Italian market, where all betting centres are required to work with a provider to connect to Government computers, as well as receive odds and liability management services.

It is estimated that the Italian sports betting market is currently worth around €2 billion and the horseracing betting market €2.1 billion. The total betting and gaming market is estimated to be worth €28 billion. In the UK, the betting sector alone was worth £45.08 billion in stakes in 2005 (Keynote 2006).

Christopher Bell, Chief Executive of Ladbrokes plc said: "We are very pleased with the outcome of the tender which represents a major step forward for us in Italy. We have appointed an Italian Chief Executive who brings extensive local knowledge of the industry to our operations and we will continue to expand our Italian business through acquiring further existing licences."

For further information:

Ciaran O'Brien
Head of Public Relations
Mobile: +44 (0) 7976 180 173

Paul Bagstaff
Investor Relations
Mobile: +44 (0) 7976 348 922

Notes to Editors:

The Chief Executive of Ladbrokes Italy is Mattia Nicelli, who has over 13 years experience working in senior roles in the gambling industry. Ladbrokes plc employs 14,000 people in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Jersey and Gibraltar. The company is comprised of Ladbrokes, the world's biggest bookmaker and operator of one of Europe's leading telephone betting operations; Ladbrokes.com the leading betting and gaming website; Vernons, the football pools company and Ladbrokes Casinos which opened the Ladbrokes Casino and Sports Bar in Paddington in July 2006. Ladbrokes.com has customers in 200 countries around the world. Ladbrokes has a strategy for international expansion that includes a consultancy partnership in China, and a planned investment of over 100 million Euro to establish a business in Italy.