William Hill aims to grow Irish base

BRITISH bookmaker William Hill is aiming to drive growth in its Irish operations this year through a new online offering aimed at capitalising on a good performance in 2010.

The company — which as well as its core markets of Britain and Ireland, has operations in Austria, Spain and Italy — yesterday reported a 60% increase in full-year group pre-tax profits to £193.3 million (€226.2m), with after-tax profits up by 92% to £156m and net revenue rising by 7% to £1.07 billion. Operating profit was also up by 7% and basic adjusted earnings per share rose by 5% to 21.7p. The full-year dividend per share rose by 11% to 8.3p.

Revenue in William Hill’s high street retail division was up by 3%, while online revenue rose by 24%. Group chief executive, Ralph Topping, said that the company’s continuing investments in technology have underpinned its overall growth.