Operator News

Australia – William Hill considering Australian exit

By Phil - 16 January 2018

William Hill is weighing up whether to pull the plug on its Australia business following a double regulatory whammy that has seen a ban on bookmakers offering lines of credit and the introduction of a 15 per cent point of consumption tax on online gambling.

Philip Bowcock, CEO, commented: “Given the credit betting ban in Australia and the likely introduction of a Point of Consumption tax in a number of states, it is clear that profitability will increasingly come under pressure and therefore we are undertaking a strategic review of our Australia business.”

The company’s full year profit is ahead of expectations, reflecting good momentum in both the UK and US markets, stronger gross win margin and the benefits of the transformation programme.

The Group’s full-year adjusted operating profit1 for 2017 is expected to be £290m, 11 per cent up on 2016.
In the nine weeks since the trading statement on 20 November 2017, Retail and Online gross win margins were ahead of expectations and significantly ahead of the same period in 2016, due to favourable football and horseracing results. As a result, wagering growth rates slowed but overall net revenue was very strong. Gaming growth rates continued to accelerate in Online but slowed in Retail.

Internationally, the US continued to grow at double-digit rates while Australia was affected by reduced credit betting volumes.

Mr. Bowcock added: “We have delivered a strong result in 2017, reflecting our focus on rejuvenating Online, growing the US and building an attractive omni-channel proposition. At the same time, we are continuously improving how we enable customers to gamble responsibly. We are excited about the opportunities ahead in 2018 – a World Cup year – with our competitive position reasserted in the UK and with the potential for sports betting to open up in the US.”