Three leading UK iGaming operators have seen their share prices fall in the challenge of UK voters electing for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. According to Gambling Insider, Ladbrokes, William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair saw their prices drop due to EU referendum vote. 51.9% majority of 33.6 million voters have opted to exit the UK’s membership of the EU. The membership has been in place since 1973 when it was known as the European Economic Community.
EU Referendum Causes Market Share Prices Drop
- Paddy Power Betfair’s value plunged 25% to 6,550p a share,
- Ladbrokes’ plunged 10% to 117p a share,
- While William Hill’s share price dropped from 300p to 237p overnight.
However, the drop was not too significant as on Friday morning, 24 June 2016, just after 6am, the results surfaced with all three UK gambling operators share prices increasing. Immediately after 10:30 am, Ladbrokes shares were trading at 122p, Paddy Power Betfair at 8 477p and William Hill trading at 279p.
Matthew Shaddick, Head of Political Betting at Ladbrokes, said: “Sure, we rode the wave of ‘the pollsters are all over the place, follow the money’, although in Ladbrokes’ defence, we did take several opportunities to point out the potential pitfalls of assuming that the favourite always wins.”
Mr. Shaddick further noted that the bookies do not provide markets on political affairs to assist people predict the results and that’s the truth. As bookmakers, they do it to minimise any lose or to make a profit, and in return, this vote produced good results for them. In his closing statement, he said no one at Ladbrokes Headquarters will criticise the predictive powers of their odds, they will look at the profit they’ve generated.
