William Hill profits down, but online gambling division strong

William Hill has unveiled its profits for the year, but the picture was not good. Its full-year profits are down due to a number of factors. However, its online gambling division has performed strongly, providing hope to the company that its continued strength will help it to see better results this year.

William Hill’s pre-tax profits for 2009 were £120.9 million, which is nearly 60 percent lower than in 2008 when it made £292.3 million. It has blamed heavy accounting charges for this poor performance, along with other factors such as the unusual number of draws in the Premier League at the start of the football season.

Despite the poor figures, it confirmed that it had “transformed” some aspects of the business to put it in a “much stronger position.” Overall revenue was also up 4 percent to £998 million, and online revenue was up a massive 63 percent to £204 million, which bodes well for the future growth of its online division.

The chief executive of William Hill, Ralph Topping, said that it has been “a year of transformation,” adding that the company has made “great strides.” He had special praise for William Hill Online, saying that it was “nearly unrecognisable from one year ago.”

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