William Hill anticipates 11% profit hike in 2017

William Hill has forecast an 11% year-on-year rise in profit for the 12 months to 31 December, 2017.

In a trading statement, the bookmaker said that full-year profit is likely come in at approximately £290m (€326.3m/$398.7m), which would be ahead of initial expectations.

William Hill cited “good momentum” in both the UK and US, as well as stronger gross win margin and the benefits of the transformation programme as the key reasons behind this anticipated increase.

Meanwhile, for the nine weeks since its last trading statement on November 9, William Hill said retail and online gross win margins were also ahead of initial expectations and “significantly ahead” of the same period in 2016, due to favourable results across football and horseracing.

As a result, wagering growth rates slowed at the firm, but overall net revenue was very strong.

In addition, gaming growth rates also continued to accelerate in online, but slowed in retail.

Regarding its international performance, William Hill said the US continued to grow at double-digit rates, but Australia was affected by reduced credit betting volumes.

The bookmaker also acknowledged the credit betting ban in Australia and the expected introduction of a ‘point of consumption’ tax in a number of states, saying this will place profitability in the country “under pressure” and that it is in the process of undertaking a strategic review of its Australia business.

Philip Bowcock, chief executive of William Hill, said: “We have delivered a strong result in 2017, reflecting our focus on rejuvenating online, growing the US and building an attractive omni-channel proposition.

“At the same time, we are continuously improving how we enable customers to gamble responsibly.

“We are excited about the opportunities ahead in 2018 – a World Cup year – with our competitive position reasserted in the UK and with the potential for sports betting to open up in the US.”

William Hill expects to publish its full results for the year on February 23.

Related article: SIS chairman Devlin to take over at William Hill