Ladbrokes Owner Entain Repays some Furlough After Outcry Ladbrokes owner Entain repays some furlough after protest Entain, the gaming giant which owns Ladbrokes, is to repay ₤ 44m of the furlough cash it declared throughout the pandemic, but keep ₤ 57.5 m. Carolyn Harris MP called it "absolutely outrageous" that Entain was not repaying it all, regardless of soaring profits. The group made ₤ 393m in pre-tax earnings in 2021, up 125% on the year before. It stated the furlough plan had helped to safeguard 14,000 jobs, and a "more specific medium-term outlook" made the partial repayment possible. Entain has around 3,000 wagering stores in the UK branded Ladbrokes or Coral - which it had to close for big parts of 2020 and 2021 because of coronavirus constraints. However, punters did not stop wagering, they simply moved online. Entain's online company grew rapidly, and assisting to press the group's profits up 8% in 2015. In action to a BBC Newspaper article in January, MPs called on Entain to repay the cash it had actually received under the furlough plan, with former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith saying the company ought to "instantly hand the cash back to the UK taxpayer". Entain has said formerly that the situation was "under evaluation". On Thursday, it revealed that it would return the ₤ 44m it declared in 2021, however keep the ₤ 57.5 m it claimed in 2020. Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said; "Given that this business made numerous countless pounds in revenue last year straight from bettors who lost cash, it is absolutely disgraceful that they have likewise taken from taxpayers, which they have not paid back the full furlough amount.