Global betting and gaming company William Hill published its trading update for the 17-week period from June 29th to October 25th 2016, which is the second half of the fiscal year to date, and for the 43-week period ended on October 25th 2016.
Apart from the trading update, the company today also announced three new appointments to its Non-executive Directors team.
The Interim Chief Executive Officer of the UK-based bookmaker Philip Bowcock commented on William Hills’ performance over the above-mentioned period, saying that the company’s team had still been focused on the turnaround of its Online division. Mr. Bowcock explained that the operator’s Online unit had managed to growth in the country thanks to the significant changes implemented on the company’s Sportsbook services over the second fiscal quarter.
He added that over the second half of the fiscal year, the company’s team was also aimed at making progress in terms of improving its Gaming division’s performance and its customer experience. Mr. Bowcock shared that the international divisions of the UK-based gambling and betting operator were performing well. As he revealed, the units generated a net revenue growth in all key markets of the company – the US, Australia, Spain and Italy.
In addition, the Interim Chief Executive Officer explained that the company remained on track to deliver full-year operating profit at the top end of its preliminary outlook. What is more, he shared that the entire team of the gambling and bookmaking operator believed that such results would provide it with the chance to make further investments in its Online division.
According to the information presented by William Hill in its trading update, its Online division has swung back to growth. Its net revenue increased by 4% in the period, while the gross win margin rose by 8.4%. The core markets of the company – the UK, Italy and Spain – also posted a net revenue growth, as well as the other markets.
On the other hand, the retail operations posted a mild drop in terms of the amounts wagered, as well as a flat net revenue growth. Over the second half of the fiscal year, the company has launched a total of 1,200 of their proprietary Self-Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs). William Hill also revealed that it plans to release new content to its SSBTs.
William Hill announced that it still expects its 2016 full-year profit to be in the top end of its preliminary outlook. The company has projected annual operating profit in the range from £260 to £280 million.
As mentioned above, the UK-based gambling and sports betting provider appointed three new Non-executive Directors. Two of them – John O’Reilly and Robin Terrell are to join the company on January 2nd 2017. The third one – Mark Brooker – is to join the operator on April 3rd 2017. Prior to becoming part of William Hill’s Non-Executive Directors team, Mr. O’Reilly worked as a Managing Director at Coral Interactive. Robin Terrell is a former Chief Customer Officer of Testo PLC, while Mr. Brooker worked as a Chief Operating Officer at Betfair.
The Chairman of William Hill Gareth Davis commented on the three appointments, saying that all three of them were expected to be of great help to the digital, gambling and multi-channel industry experience of the company’s Board. Mr. Davis shared that he strongly believed that the new additions to the team would join forces to bolster the provider’s business at a time when the company had been focused on paying more attention to its digital and international operations.
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Olivia Cole
