Online Division of William Hill Returns to Growth
The online division of William Hill has continually underperformed during the past few years, but a trading statement released to the London Stock Exchange on Nov. 14 reveals it has returned to growth.
Online wagering at William Hill’s mobile sportsbook increased six percent with net revenue growing four percent during the June 29 to Oc. 25 period (H2), with amounts wagered up two percent for the year to date. Average revenue per customer also increased during H2, improving by an impressive 16 percent.
“In this period we have continued to focus on online's turnaround, identifying efficiencies and international growth," Philip Bowcock, the interim CEO of William Hill, said. “Online has returned to wagering growth in the UK following significant enhancements to our mobile Sportsbook in Q2 and we are making good progress on the gaming and user experience improvements in H2, further helped by the Grand Parade team we acquired in August. We will complete the heavy lifting on online's changes in Q1."
Beyond the company's online changes, William Hill has experienced growth in other markets around the world.
“Our international businesses are all performing well, with double-digit wagering and net revenue growth in each of our key markets of Australia, the U.S. and Italy and Spain," he said. "In a tough market, the Australian business is benefiting from our in-house technology, which allows us to bring customers innovative new products more frequently than our competitors."
As William Hill finishes 2016, the company will make further investments based on documented growth.
“Looking forward, we remain on track to deliver 2016 operating profit at the top end of our guided range," Bowcock said. "With our significantly improved products and user experience, we are confident that this is the right time to invest further in our online business. Therefore, the marketing efficiencies we are announcing today will be reinvested.”
Three Non-Executive Directors Appointed
William Hill has bolstered its board with the appointment of three non-executive directors who bring vast experience from multichannel, gambling and digital industries.
John O’Reilly, former managing director at Coral Interactive, and Robin Terrell, former chief customer officer at Tesco PLC, will join the company on Jan. 2, while Mark Brooker, former chief operating officer at Betfair, assumes his new role April 3.
