Rodrigues adds to Ladbrokes stake

Ladbrokes non-exec Christopher Rodrigues added to his stake in the betting firm following its recent interim figures.

Rodrigues bought 20,000 shares at 145.4p each - a total investment of £29,080. That takes his stake to 22,646 shares. The share price has fallen since the purchase.

Shares in Ladbrokes went ex-dividend this morning. Rodrigues bought the shares early enough to receive the 3.85p a share interim dividend. His dividend cheque will be just short of £872 - £770 higher than it would have been before the latest purchase.

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Rodrigues has been a director of Ladbrokes since September 2003 and he is chairman of the remuneration committee. Rodrgues used to be chief executive of Visa International and Bradford & Bingley. He is currently a director of Provident Financial.

Ladbrokes warned of a challenging consumer environment as it posted a fall in profits for the half year to June 2010. Pre-tax profits fell to £105.1m from £130m on revenues that dropped to £500.2m from £565.1m.

Chief executive Richard Glynn said the benefits of the World Cup were largely offset by a disappointing performance from horse racing bets, with too many favourites winning races.

Panmure Gordon has reiterated its sell recommendation. It believes that Glynn will need time to turn the business round. "Management maintains that footfall numbers are stable and stake per slip is increasing so clearly the number of bets per visit is in decline; we think this could be exacerbated by a reduced number of UK horse racing fixtures in 2011", says analyst James Cooke.

Top Director Buys

Ladbrokes (LAD) Director name: Mr Christopher J RodriguesAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 145.40p Value: £29,080

Top Director Sells

Mondi (MNDI) Director name: Mr David A HathornAmount sold: 200,000 @ 470.14p Value: £940,280

Invensys (ISYS) Director name: Mr Ulf HenrikssonAmount sold: 119,746 @ 259.74p Value: £311,028