23rd Oct 2015 06:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - William Hill PLC Friday reported a drop in net revenue and operating profit in the third quarter of 2015 and said it now expects full-year operating profit to be around the bottom of the analyst consensus range.
The bookmaker said net revenue in the 13 weeks ended September 30 fell 9% on the same period the year before, as operating profit dropped 39%. In the 39 weeks ended September 29, net revenue decreased 3% while operating profit was down 22%.
William Hill said its results were "significantly impacted" by a swing from an outstanding gross win margin in the third quarter of 2014, which included the football World Cup, to a less strong gross win margin in the third quarter of 2015, and faced a GBP23 million hit due to new and increased UK gambling taxes.
As a result, the company now expects operating profit for the full year to be around the lower end of the GBP290.9 million to GBP312.1 million analyst consensus range. That would be down from the GBP372.2 million operating profit that William Hill achieved in 2014.
"The third quarter was always going to be a tough quarter given last year's World Cup and very strong gross win margin, allied to GBP23 million of additional gambling duties this year. The quarter also featured weaker-than-expected sporting results impacting Retail, the US and Australia, and the drag effect of the non-core market decline in Online," Chief Executive James Henderson said in a statement.
"The growth in Online's core markets - the UK, Italy and Spain - remains strong for both betting and gaming. Whilst good operating cost discipline has partially offset the weaker-than-expected results and non-core market impacts, the board now expects full-year operating profit to be around the bottom of the analyst consensus range," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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