Betting group William Hill (LON:WMH) are down 13 percent today after revising their operating profit downwards in a trading update.

The company cited an increasing number of time-outs and automatic self-exclusions over recent weeks as having a major impact on profits, particularly on the gaming side. The group now estimate that, should these trends persist around current levels, the consequent lower revenues will reduce online trading profits by £20-25 million in 2016.

William Hill now expect operating profit for 2016 to be in the range of £260-280 million.

James Henderson, CEO of William Hill, commented:

“Today’s statement reflects the combined effect of our assessment of the impact of recent regulatory changes and unfavourable sporting results including the worst results at Cheltenham in our recent history. We are also experiencing softer UK growth as a consequence of acquiring lower value customers. While the rest of the Group is performing in line with our expectations, we continue to focus on improving Online’s performance so that we can, once again, outperform the market.”

William Hill are currently trading down 13.54 percent at 320.60 (0923GMT).

23/03/2016