William Hill releases fourth quarter results

Not so long ago, in fact just at the beginning of the football season, bookmakers were blaming the results of the Premiership matches as being the cause of reduced profits when just four of the first 66 matches ended in a draw but now William Hill has reported improved profits up 6% in the fourth quarter thanks to surprise defeats for Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea as well as the ongoing poor form of Liverpool. Simon Lane, the finance director said “The results weren’t so good for the punters, with the big teams not going to form”. Gross win margins were back at the 17 to 18% level and the shares rose 6.3p to 191.9p. 2010 has however got off to a poor start with the weather cancelling many of the racing fixtures which will reduce turnover and profits. All in all the 2009 results are expected to produce operating profits of £250 million which is up approximately 4% with the online business up 35% after a strong fourth quarter. Analysts suggest that this was just a little less than they expected. Chairman Charles Scott who joined the board in 2002 before the flotation will be stepping down at the end of the year but commented that the business was in “excellent shape”. We await with interest to see if other bookmakers have the same experience with football results affecting their business.