William Hill UK reports rise in profits

Bookmaker William Hill today said the amount of money left by unsuccessful punters in recent weeks had shown a slight fall on a year ago.

The company, which has 2,208 betting shops in the UK, said the 1% drop since the end of June was in line with its expectations due to tough comparatives with the previous year, which included the final rounds of the football World Cup.

Excluding the cup effect, the gross win rose 4% despite the cancellation of 18% of horseracing fixtures after heavy rains washed out races.

The group added it was uncertain about the full effect of the England smoking ban, but said it was hopeful that extended opening hours from September, along with the introduction of jackpot machines, would boost earnings.

The update came as the company reported a marginal rise in pre-tax profits to £134.2m (€199m) in the 26 weeks to June 26. The gross win was up by 4.2% at £498.2m (€740m) as a strong performance from its betting shops offset a weaker performance at its internet operation.