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But players and profits up
British bookmaker William Hill plc posted a 2 percent rise in pretax profit Thursday for the 26 weeks ended June 26, 2007 and said it would resume its share buyback programme while its Web poker and casino site continued to find the going tough.
The company reported pretax profit for the six months to June 26 of GBP 134.2 million ($272.6 million), at the upper end analysts' forecast range of 127.7 to 136.3 million pounds.
Highlights include the following:
Gross win up 4.2 percent to GBP 498.2 million (2006: GBP 478.3 million)
Profit on ordinary activities before finance charges and exceptional items up GBP 1.2 million at GBP 161.2 million (2006: GBP 160.0 million)
Cash generated from operations before tax and interest at GBP 189.7 million (2006: GBP 193.9 million), which represents 117.7 percent of operating profit
Good progress in establishing businesses in Spain and Italy in conjunction with partner, Codere
In the four weeks to 24 July 2007, the Group's gross win fell by 1% in line with management expectations as the comparative period included the completion of the World Cup. Excluding the effects of the World Cup, gross win increased by 4 percent despite the impact of 18% of racing fixtures being cancelled in this period.
Commenting on the results, Chairman Charles Scott said: "We are pleased that the Group has seen profit growth in the period, notwithstanding the absence of a major football tournament and the incremental costs of AMLD incurred this year compared to the first half of 2006. Profit before finance charges and exceptional items was GBP 1.2 million higher than last year and earnings per share excluding exceptional items increased by 12 percent."
Regarding remote gambling, the statement revealed that Telephone gross win fell by 2 percent to GBP 29.2 million but operating profit increased by 53 percent to GBP 9.8 million, notwithstanding the World Cup benefiting the comparative figures and lower high roller activity in the period.
The group ended the half-year with 153 000 active telephone customers, down slightly from the previous year (26 December 2006: 160 000). Lower marketing spend on the World Cup, together with staff cuts brought telephone operational costs down by 20 percent.
In Interactive operations, gross win fell by GBP 8.7 million to GBP 62.0 million and operating profit fell by GBP 7.8 million to GBP 28.1 million. Although disappointing, these results demonstrate a stabilisation of the decline experienced in the second half of last year with gross win showing an increase of 4 percent when compared to that period, the company claims.
Interactive sportsbook gross win continued to be impacted by the relative inflexibility of William Hill's current technology configuration, ahead of the introduction of its NextGen technology programme, which commences in the second half of the year. The first part of this programme has just delivered a relaunched web site and there are hopes that this will bring positive benefits to Interactive operations.
Despite the limitations of its current systems, Will Hill continued to increase its range of in-running betting opportunities on the sportsbook and launched 5 new arcade games during the period, expanding the inventory to 25 games. Internet based bingo and skill games were introduced in the period and early results have been encouraging, particularly for the bingo product.
Online poker and casino operations also experienced a difficult trading period. A reduction in high roller activity and the deflection of revenue to arcade games impacted casino operations unfavourably, and poker activity went through a difficult period. However, the introduction of a closed loop and lower limit tables has resulted in an average 10 percent increase in rake over the last few weeks of the reporting period.
Total active accounts increased to 415 000 as at 26 June 2007, up on last year (26 December 2006: 405 000).
The statement notes that William Hill plc as a group is well prepared for the implementation of the detailed regulations, conditions, standards and guidance established by the Gambling Commission and the DCMS under the UK Gambling Act 2005 when these become enforceable on 1 September 2007.
A significant training programme has been established to inform all staff of the requirements of the Act and their responsibilities under the new regime.
Changes to the board of directors during the reporting period include the appointment of Ian Spearing and
Ralph Topping, two of Will Hill's most experienced senior executives, as executive directors.
Ian Spearing was appointed to the Board as Group Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Development with particular responsibility for the Group's new international ventures in Spain and Italy.
Ralph Topping was appointed to the Board as Group Director, Operations with responsibility for all of the Group's UK based operations and supporting marketing and IT functions.
These moves reflect the substantial increase in size and complexity of William Hill and the increasing importance of regulatory issues, both in the UK as a result of the Gambling Commission and as William Hill develops internationally. |
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发表于 2007-8-3 03:15
