William Hill announced in a statement today that its profit before tax had fallen 35 percent year-on-year to £78.7 million in the 26 weeks to the end of June.
Advertisement
The UK government hiked taxes on the controversial fixed-odds betting machines, dubbed the “crack cocaine of gambling”, after campaigners warned these were responsible for a worrying rise in problem gambling and anti-social behaviour.
Meanwhile, the group said the introduction of the National Living Wage for workers over 25 is expected to cost it £1million to £2million in 2016.
It also said profits had been hit by the Machine Games Duty increase, as well as new controls on the way customers who wish to stake more than £50 on gaming machines may bet.
“We are making good operational progress in building a leading business in Australia, repositioning William Hill Australia in the key recreational segment in that market”, it said. Net revenue came in flat at £808.1 million, while the company’s operating profit fell 12 percent to £155.7 million during the reported period.
The group said its US business continued to deliver strong growth.
Mr Henderson said: “The emergent online lottery market is an exciting new opportunity in the gambling sector”.
Henderson added: “I am particularly pleased with our move into the emerging online lotteries market, which will support our worldwide diversification”.
William Hill said that buying Luxembourg-based NeoGames would take it into online lotteries which are expanding rapidly in the US.
Higher taxes on betting and gaming have sent profits at William Hill tumbling by more than a third. “This agreement gives William Hill good optionality in a new market that is increasingly attractive to gambling customers”.
William Hill, which has 2,360 betting shops in the UK, is set to be overtaken as the country’s largest bookmakers’ network after rivals Ladbrokes and Coral agreed a £2.3bn merger last month.
Basic earnings per share dropped 30% to 7.9 pence, but the bookmaker was able to pay out a dividend per share of 4.1 pence, up slightly from 4.0 pence previous year.
Advertisement
Over the past six months, William Hill has made significant progress with its Project Trafalgar.
