Betting shops "may be struggling amid falling takings and a crackdown on gaming machines," but Britain’s biggest bookmaker reported a return to growth thanks to the World Cup. GVC Holdings, owner of the Ladbrokes and Coral chains, said that the 5% fall in like-for-like net gaming revenues in its U.K. retail estate in the first quarter was followed by a 2% increase in the second quarter (LONDON TIMES, 7/19).
Goals Soccer Centres lost almost a third of its value in early trading on Thursday "after it issued a fresh profit warning, secured extra headroom on a debt covenant and announced the resignation of its finance chief." The five-a-side football operator, which had warned investors about the impact of the snow in March, said that the extreme weather caused "a further substantial knock-on impact on trading throughout the second quarter (LONDON TIMES, 7/19).
Barcelona reportedly contracted the services of Goldman Sachs to to advise the club in its search for funds for the construction of the new Camp Nou. The project's cost has a budget of €600M ($699M). Sources said that Goldman Sachs "won the contract over several other int'l banks" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 7/19).
