William Hill expect profits to be ahead of expectations following strong few months

William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) have said to shareholders that they expect profits to be ahead of expectations.

The firm said that this was driven by favorable sports results as the firm gave shareholders a positive update on Monday.

In their trading update, the firm said that adjusted operating profit from continuing operations is expected to be in range of £143 million to £148 million, ahead of market and management expectations.

The firm said that favorable sports results allowed the strong end to the year, which will please shareholders.

The betting firm said that the retail business, after being scrutinized with restructuring and reorganizational plans generated profits above their guidance.

Initial guidance was in the range of £50 million to £70 million, as the firm alluded to “favorable sporting results in December, above the long term gross win margin range”.

Online once again grabbed the headlines as this sector grew for the fourth consecutive quarter, whilst weakness in gaming net revenue was offset by a strong sporting gross win margin, the bookmaker said.

Ulrik Bengtsson, chief executive officer, said: “The group has delivered a strong operating performance, ahead of our expectations and against a challenging regulatory backdrop.”

William Hill also announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Ruth Prior.

Prior who has been with William Hill since 2017 will take up a role with Element Materials as Chief Financial Officer.

William Hill and 888 go head to head

In similar fashion to William Hill, 888 (LON:888) have given shareholders a confident update following a strong period of trading.

888 alluded to strong performance in the second half of the year, which has driven its full year expectations.

December revenue was particularly strong as this figure hit a new monthly high with progress supported by the success of the Orbit casino platform launched in May 2018.

In the first half of 2019, 888 reported pretax profit of $22.2 million, falling from $60.1 million a year before, on $277.3 million in revenue, down from $283.9 million.

In 2018, the company’s pretax profit was $108.7 million on revenue of $529.9 million.

888 said it was pleased by the first-phase rollout of its Poker 8 platform. The company will add “a number of exciting new product features” and will be rolling out the final-phase platform in 2020.

GVC – another name to be mentioned

GVC (LON:GVC) who run stores such as Coral, saw their shares up in October as the firm lifted its full year guidance. The owner of the Ladbrokes brand increased its core profits forecast, predicting that they will now lie in the range of £670 million – £680 million for the full year.

The Coral brand has become synonymous with UK betting, whilst bwin is one of the leading online betting brands in Europe.

Additionally, the firm appointed former Homeserve PLC (LON:HSV) chair as its new non-executive chair. This came at a time where GVC were looking to stimulate business and impose their foot holding in the UK market.

The betting market certainly has become competitive, and William Hill have seemed to perform strongly and in line with competition.

William Hill are set to post their annual results on February 26, and shareholders will be hoping that the firm can sustain trading across the new year.

Shares of William Hill trade at 184p (+0.19%). 13/1/20 10:47BST.

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