Profits for British bookmaker William Hill were down 11 percent for the first half of 20117 as the company faced “volatile” sporting results in the first two quarters of the year.
The bookmaker took in about $144 million, down from $161 million last year. In its financial report, the company pointed to the lack of a major soccer tournament this year as another factor in the decline.
The company did see an increase in online revenue, where adjusted operating profits rose 32 percent to £57.2m. However, income in the company’s retail outlets was down.
The bookmaker’s revenues grew 3 percent to £837m in the 26 weeks to June 27, but pre-tax profits fell to £93.5m, from £100.7m in the same period of last year.
“Our product improvements combined with improved marketing have seen both existing customers respond positively, and the number of new customers start growing again during the period,” said Philip Bowcock, chief financial officer for William Hill in a press statement.
According to a report at Bloomberg News, William Hill was helped, however, by not being involved in a partial blackout that stopped many of its competitors from showing some live horseracing events in the UK. Sports wagers placed at William Hill outlets rose 2 percent to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) while the broadcasting dispute played out, Bloomberg said.
