William Hill to review Australia operations as credit betting ban kicks in

William Hill said it expected full-year adjusted operating profit to be around 11% higher at £290m, as it announced a review of its Australian business ahead of the introduction of a credit betting ban next month.

The bookmaker said profits were boosted by its UK and US markets, stronger gross win margin.

The Australian government ban and "likely" introduction of a point of consumption tax by individual states would place profits under pressure, William Hill said, prompting the review.

Two years ago the company was found to be making cold calls to Australian customers offering them AUD $1,000 in credit.

In the nine weeks since its last trading statement in November 2017, William Hill said retail and online gross win margins were ahead of expectations and “significantly ahead of the same period in 2016, due to favourable football and horseracing results”.

“As a result, wagering growth rates slowed but overall net revenue was very strong. Gaming growth rates continued to accelerate in online but slowed in retail.

“Internationally, the US continued to grow at double-digit rates while Australia was affected by reduced credit betting volumes.

Chief executive Philip Bowcock said the company was “excited about the opportunities ahead in 2018”, with the football world cup in Russia taking place this year and “the potential for sports betting to open up in the US".