The boss of bookmaker Ladbrokes has been given shares worth £1 million only days after the gambling firm reported a slump of 50 per cent in their profits.
Richard Glynn is to receive 759,958 shares, which are worth approximately £1,028,223 (according to share prices on Wednesday.)
This bonus came only days after Ladbrokes said that profits in the first half of the year all but halved from £55.1 million to £27.7 million.
When Glyn took over as chief executive in April 2010, Ladbrokes shares were trading at around 160p. They peaked at 243p in March last year.
Since then, however, share prices have collapsed. And, on Wednesday, they had fallen 1.5p to 135.3p, as the company lagged behind rivals such as William Hill in both online and mobile betting platforms.
Upon telling shareholders about Ladbrokes’ disappointing results, Mr Glynn said that the company had nevertheless enjoyed a “good World Cup”, and was now “well positioned for growth”.
However, the City is yet to be convinced, and, with the bookmaker facing a new tax on online betting and tougher rules pending on the controversial fixed odds betting machines (which have been dubbed the “crack cocaine” of gambling) it is likely to be difficult for Ladbrokes to turn their fortune around.
One analyst at Citi, James Ainley, said that the results offered “a glimmer of hope for a digital revival”. Such sentiment, however, was not shared by Nick Bartram of Peel Hunt, who said “the risk of further disappointment is high”.
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