Today, one of the largest British Bookmakers, William Hill, published its results for the first half of 2018, revealing that it had a “good” performance over a period of “substantial change”.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Philip Bowcock, said that William Hill had performed well over the six months which ended on June 26th, especially considering the major regulatory changes faced by the company both in its domestic market and the US.
The bookmaker’s boss revealed that the Online arm of the company continued to deliver a double-digit growth, while in the Retail business the operator was planning to put into action some measures to help it offset the Triennial Review’s impact. The US division of the company had also faced some regulatory changes, considering the decision of the US Supreme Court to lift the federal ban on sports betting and the amendments which some newly regulating states are bringing to their legislative and regulatory framework.
The group net revenue over the first half of 2018 saw a 3% increase to £802.6 million. As mentioned above, the online division of the bookmaker continued to perform well over the period, with this year’s World Cup resulting in more than 1 million active users at the time of the football tournament. The net revenue of William Hill’s online arm rose by 11%, with the online sportsbook marking an 18% growth and online gaming net revenue marking a 4% increase.
The retail net revenue of the company, however, experienced a 3% decline due to the challenging environment in the UK high-street bookmaker sector. On the other hand, the US business continued its strong growth, with its net revenue rising by 50%, and its adjusted operating profit increasing by more than 130%.
William Hill Faces Major Regulatory Changes in the UK and US
As mentioned above, the year so far was a challenging one for William Hill, in spite of the fact that the company is among the best-positioned and seasoned ones in the UK gambling industry.
The betting firm suffered a half-year pre-tax loss of £819.6 million in comparison to a profit of £93.1 million generated in the same period a year earlier. The gambling operator’s results suffered a major blow after William Hill faced a massive £882.8-million impairment charge on its retail operations, associated with the decision of the UK Government to slash the maximum stake allowed on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2.
The company itself shared that a regulatory change of such a scale is unprecedented in the country, so its impact on consumers’ behaviour would remain unknown until a few years after implementation pass. Still, the bookmaker projected that the changes brought to the sector could end up reducing the annual adjusted operating profit of the retail division.
Earlier in 2018, the company also suffered a £6.2-million fine imposed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for money laundering and customer protection failures. The key gambling watchdog in the UK imposed the fine following an investigation which found that William Hill Group had violated regulatory rules associated with anti-money laundering and social responsibility in the period from November 2014 to August 2016.
On the other hand, the British bookmaker faced some regulatory changes in the US, too. In the light of the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to lift the federal ban on sports betting. William Hill took quick steps following the ruling and the repeal of PASPA, as some US states have already started the implementation of new sports betting rules. The UK gambling operator reiterated its intention to continue its development on the US market by making further investments to capture the potential unveiled by sports betting legalization.
- Author
Olivia Cole
