William Hill profits drop after tough year

William Hill posted a 7% fall in annual profits today after the recession, poor sporting results and weather disruption hit the business.

The group – along with the overall gaming industry – endured a difficult summer when Premier League football matches yielded few draws as well as plenty of victories for favoured teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea.

Margins recovered in the final three months of last year and Hill’s online operation delivered a strong performance – pushing revenues 4% higher for the year as a whole to £997.9m (€1.1bn). Pre-tax profits were £197.5m (€222m).

The company, which has 2,324 betting shops, said its core retail business delivered a robust performance after an 8% decline in amounts wagered and a 12% drop in over-the-counter revenues when accounting for winning bets.