Despite economic downturn, Britain’s second largest bookmaker reveals a nine percent rise in total gross wins.
Tuesday 28th October 2008
Britain’s second largest bookmaker, William Hill, has revealed that its total gross wins for the previous 15 weeks increased by nine percent thanks to a solid performance from its interactive channels.
Interactive gross wins for the company behind WillHill.com increased by 21 percent over the same period last year with sportsbook and gaming recording increases of 27 and 19 percent respectively.
Leeds and London-based William Hill stated that its online sportsbook demonstrated an encouraging return to growth after benefiting from initiatives taken earlier in the year to reinvigorate the business such as improved site content, better value pricing and more active management of the client base along with favourable sporting results. It revealed that its project to implement the new Orbis online sportsbook software platform remains on schedule to launch at the end of next month.
For the year, William Hill revealed that cumulative gross wins had increased by five percent, which was also helped by a ten percent rise in retail gross wins over the period. It stated that over-the-counter gross wins increased by seven percent mainly due to favourable sporting results while those from its gaming machines grew by 14 percent against prior year comparatives that were adversely affected by the introduction of a smoking ban in England.
'This is a solid operational performance by the group since the half year, demonstrating the resilience of the business against a challenging economic environment,” said Ralph Topping, Chief Executive Officer for William Hill.
“To date, we see little evidence that our business has been impacted by the economic downturn.
'With nine months of the year completed and notwithstanding that comparatives become tougher over the final quarter, the board remains comfortable with market expectations for the group.'
However, the firm revealed that gross wins from its telephone business fell by 30 percent for the period largely due to high-roller losses.
Britain’s second largest bookmaker, William Hill, has revealed that its total gross wins for the previous 15 weeks increased by nine percent thanks to a solid performance from its interactive channels.
Interactive gross wins for the company behind WillHill.com increased by 21 percent over the same period last year with sportsbook and gaming recording increases of 27 and 19 percent respectively.
Leeds and London-based William Hill stated that its online sportsbook demonstrated an encouraging return to growth after benefiting from initiatives taken earlier in the year to reinvigorate the business such as improved site content, better value pricing and more active management of the client base along with favourable sporting results. It revealed that its project to implement the new Orbis online sportsbook software platform remains on schedule to launch at the end of next month.
For the year, William Hill revealed that cumulative gross wins had increased by five percent, which was also helped by a ten percent rise in retail gross wins over the period. It stated that over-the-counter gross wins increased by seven percent mainly due to favourable sporting results while those from its gaming machines grew by 14 percent against prior year comparatives that were adversely affected by the introduction of a smoking ban in England.
'This is a solid operational performance by the group since the half year, demonstrating the resilience of the business against a challenging economic environment,” said Ralph Topping, Chief Executive Officer for William Hill.
“To date, we see little evidence that our business has been impacted by the economic downturn.
'With nine months of the year completed and notwithstanding that comparatives become tougher over the final quarter, the board remains comfortable with market expectations for the group.'
However, the firm revealed that gross wins from its telephone business fell by 30 percent for the period largely due to high-roller losses.