UK-based bookmaker William Hill announced its 2014 annual results, revealing a 20% year-on-year increase in its profit generated by digital operations. The strong growth is regarded as a result of the stable double-digit revenue increase of the web-based sports betting and gaming units of the company.
Currently, the revenue generated by William Hill’s digital operations represent about 40% of the group’s total.
According to the report, the online operating profit of the company rose from £147.8 million in 2013 to £177.7 million for the year ended on December 31st 2014. The British bookmaker also said that its net revenue over the year jumped by 18% year-on-year and reached £527.4 million.
The increase of the company’s revenue generated online is considered to be due to the sportsbook and gaming units of the company, which were said to have risen by 19% and 17% respectively. Still, a weaker gross win margin estimated to 7.6% was reported.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company – Mr. James Henderson – commented on William Hill’s performance over 2014 and shared that in his opinion, the year was a record one for the bookmaker. He also added that international variety of the revenue streams and the great World Cup performance were beneficial to the company.
Mr. Henderson, who took over the company in August 2014, outlined the “three strategic areas of focus” for William Hill, including “differentiation through technology; continued internationalisation; and maximising the omni-channel opportunity of Retail and Online”.
In addition, according to the company’s statement, the major reason for the company’s growth over the period was the mobile unit of the company, which generated about 56% of William Hill’s sportsbook revenue and 32% of its gaming revenue.
The UK-based bookmaker shared that the revenue generated outside its home market represented 18% of its total one, which was also an increase of 3% year-on-year in comparison to 2013.
Still, the pre-tax profit of the company was described as relatively disappointing, considering the fact that it failed to reach initial analysts’ forecasts estimated to £319.3 million. The post-tax profit of William Hill also declined by 9% and reached £206.3 million over the twelve months ended on December 31st.
It seems that the start of 2015 was also disappointing for the bookmaker. The latter cited a “significant loss-making week driven by customer-friendly football results” that left it behind its own projections for the first eight weeks of the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
