Rise in online gaming fails to stem William Hill profit loss
Shares in FTSE 100 company William Hill are up a healthy 2.6 per cent following final results for 2013 showing a rise in online net revenue of 10 per cent and an explosion in mobile gaming net revenue of 166 per cent.
However, the bookmaker suffered a seven per cent fall in profit before tax to £257m for the year ended 31 December 2013.
Net revenue also dropped by 16 per cent to £1.4bn. The company highlighted the political tension surrounding the industry.
Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, commented:
Gambling remains a source of political debate. We have taken firm steps in the last year to further improve responsible gambling outcomes in our shops with the development and implementation of the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) Code, addressing the areas that, we believe, can more effectively encourage the small proportion of customers who experience a problem to gamble responsibly. We are keen to ensure any decisions in this area are driven by facts and research.
In January, the company's online net revenue increased by 14 per cent, benefitting from improvements to mobile gaming.
William Hill has placed its hopes in a new development centre in Tech City in order to attract the tech savvy talent it needs to react to changes in the gaming industry as online gambling continues to change the landscape of sector.
William Hill’s Sportsbook app has been downloaded by more than 1.3m iOS users and generates £23m in turnover every week.
(Google)