Hills puts faith in technology following 2015 dip
William Hill chief executive James Henderson said that the gaming operator is “well placed to deliver on its growth strategy” in the coming year as the company confirmed a drop in both revenue and operating profit in 2015.
In its final results for the year to December 31, William Hill confirmed the figures announced in last month’s trading update, with revenues down 1% year-on-year to £1.59 billion (€2.11 billion/$2.29 billion) and earnings before interest and tax dropping 22% to £291.4 million.
The company said that operating profit would have been up 2% if £87 million excluding additional UK gambling duties.
Hill’s focused on its operational successes, including the launch of its new mobile website and iOS app under Project Trafalgar, while also noting a strong performance in Australia, where it now attracts an “impressive” 1,000 customers per day.
Henderson said: “In the last 12 months we have made substantial operational progress against our three strategic priorities of omni-channel, technology and international.
“In technology terms, Online now has a platform that allows us to deliver rapid and frequent innovations to customers, further differentiating our offering.
“Internationally, I'm particularly pleased that William Hill Australia is now benefiting from our reshaping and investment in the business.
“We have made further good progress on measures to encourage responsible gambling, including using algorithms to identify potentially harmful behaviour and helping to develop a national, cross-operator self-exclusion scheme.”
The company noted a series of developments that it expects over the course of 2016, with Henderson confident about its strategy.
He said: “We are now preparing to roll out our proprietary self-service betting terminal in retail. This is an important part of our omni-channel strategy and enables us to bring the best of online to our shops.
“As one of the largest scale businesses in gambling, the board is confident in the outlook for the year ahead and believes the group is well placed to deliver on its growth strategy.”
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