Online focus pays out for William Hill in first half

Bookmaker William Hill saw revenue improve 3% in its first half to £837m, it said on Wednesday, although adjusted operating profit fell 1% to £129.5m.

The FTSE 250 group’s profit before interest and tax dropped 11% to £109m in the 26 weeks to 27 June, it said, while profit before tax was off 7% year-on-year at £93.5m and adjusted profit before tax was ahead 2% at £111.2m.

Basic adjusted earnings per share stood at 11.2p, up 7% on the first half of 2016, while basic earnings per share were down 2% at £9.5m.

William Hill’s board declared an interim dividend of 4.26p per share, up 4% on the 4.1p paid at the interim last year.

“The first half of 2017 has seen good progress against our three strategic priorities and wagering growth across all four divisions,” said chief executive Philip Bowcock.

“Our product improvements combined with improved marketing have seen both existing customers respond positively and the number of new customers start growing again during the period.

“As a result we are seeing good momentum building in Online's performance.”

On the operational front, the group said it made market share gains at or above market growth rates in both both online and retail.

In its retail stores, amounts wagered were ahead 2% and gaming net revenue rose 3% during the period.

Online, the company’s UK sportsbook saw amounts wagered rise 13%, while gaming net revenues were 9% higher than the same time last year.

William Hill also saw “continued net revenue growth” in both Australia and the United States.

The company said it remained on track to deliver £40m of annualised efficiency savings by year-end, with improved revenues, greater cost efficiency and better organisational effectiveness coming “over the long term”, according to the board’s statement.

“In Retail we made market share gains, with growth in both sports betting - despite the lack of a major international football tournament - and gaming revenues,” Bowcock said.

“Internationally, our US business continues to perform well and in Australia, with the upcoming Spring Carnival key to the full-year results, we are competing hard and diversifying our product range.”

Earlier in the year, the company targeted the £40m of annualised savings as part of its transformation programme, and Bowcock confirmed the group was “on track” to deliver that by the year-end.

“In addition to these savings, the programme has sparked initiatives to further improve our products and customer experience, accelerate our top-line growth and increase efficiency.

“We are confident about delivering a good outturn in 2017 and beyond.”