William Hill in line with expectations, online MD to leave

William Hill has revealed it was able to perform in line with expectations during the 12 months through to 30 December, 2015, despite having suffered a slight drop in revenue.

In a trading update, unaudited full-year net revenue totalled £1.59 billion (€2.11 billion/$2.29 billion), which represents a drop of 1% on the £1.61 billion posted in the previous 12 months.

The bookmaker said that its retail division continues to serve as its main source of income, having generated £899.5 million in revenue, down 2% on the previous year, while online saw revenue increase by 4% year-on-year to £550.7 million.

William Hill noted that its Australian arm suffered the biggest revenue decline in 2015, with the £97.9 million generated 20% lower than the preceding year.

In addition, the bookmaker’s sport betting arm posted a slight increase in sports betting, with gross margin from such activities up from 7.6% in 014 to 7.8% in the past 12 months.

James Henderson, chief executive of William Hill, said: “I am pleased that we have delivered results in line with the market's operating profit expectations for 2015.

“Online has seen some disruption around the implementation of ‘Project Trafalgar’, but we are rapidly addressing that.

“I am optimistic the advantages that Trafalgar gives us will drive growth, particularly as we gain flexibility and increase our ability to differentiate.”

Meanwhile, William Hill has announced that Andrew Lee, managing director for online, is to depart the company at some point this year.

Crispin Nieboer will take over the role on an interim basis and report directly to chief executive Henderson, while the company seeks a permanent replacement.

In addition, the bookmaker has appointed Kevin O’Connor as its new group chief information officer.

O’Connor, a former chief information officer for Paddy Power, joins the company from S&P Capital IQ, where he had been serving as chief technology officer.

“Technology remains a key pillar of our strategy and the leadership changes announced today are about building a team who will deliver product innovations and continue to ensure technology is a major competitive advantage for William Hill,” Henderson said.

“This will allow us to further build on our brand and scale, and be best placed to compete.”

Related article: William Hill rolls out Scientific Games content