William Hill Produces A Good Year After All

Published: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

WILLIAM HILL PRODUCES A GOOD YEAR AFTER ALL

Latest information from UK bookie and casino gambling group William Hill shows better than forecast results

The pessimism expressed by William Hill executives a few weeks ago was gone as 2006 kicked off with an upbeat interview with CEO David Harding this week.

Harding said that full-year profit would beat the group's forecast as a run of winning wagers by customers came to an end.

Earnings before interest and tax for the year ended Dec. 27 would be better than the company's forecast of GBP 230 million ($396 million) to GBP 240 million. In November the group warned that profits could sink below analyst estimates due to a run of customers winning bets.

"When we put out the statement a few weeks ago, we gave ourselves the headroom of assuming December carried on being the same as the rest of the year and actually it was pretty good,'' Harding said. "Football and horse racing came back to normal.''

William Hill's statement eases concerns about waning profitability at Britain's leading bookmakers. Shares of William Hill, Ladbrokes owner Hilton Group Plc and Ireland's Paddy Power Plc fell in November after the companies said earnings were hurt by too many winning favorites at U.K. horse-racing meetings.

Harding said William Hill is seeing "phenomenal growth'' in its online poker business, particularly in the U.K. and Europe. The company's Internet casino and online sports-betting operation are also performing well, he said.

The group is due to report full-year earnings early in March.