William Hill plc (LON:WMH) have noted that revenues slipped across 2019, as the firm released their annual results on Wednesday morning.
The bookmaker said that revenues fell, however its loss narrowed sharply following less impairment costs on retail stores.
The firm commented: “We have made good progress on the commitment made in 2018 to develop William Hill into a digitally led, internationally diverse sports betting and gaming business of scale with a strong online position and access to fast-growing markets, particularly the US.”
Across 2019, William Hill noted that net revenue had fallen 2.4$ to £1.58 billion from £1.62 billion a year ago. Their pretax loss also narrowed from £37.6 million from £721.9 million – which will be a pleasing take for shareholders.
William Hill told the market that in 2018, the faced an impairment total charge of £922.1 million within its retail sector, following governmental cuts in the maximum stake in fixed-odds gaming terminals to £2 from £100.
The FTSE 250 listed firm also added that the revenue decline was down to the maximum stake limit being applied, but this was offset by better performance in the US and Online divisions.
William Hill cut their dividend from 12p a year ago to 8p – which puts a slight sour note on the update for shareholders.
Ulrik Bengtsson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“2019 was a year of transition during which we executed on our ambition to diversify internationally with the acquisition of Mr Green and the continued strong growth of our US business. The Group delivered a strong operating performance, ahead of our expectations and against a challenging regulatory backdrop.
“We move into 2020 in a stronger position. Almost a quarter of revenue is now generated outside the UK compared to 15% in 2018. We made positive progress with our digital platform, launching our purpose-built platform in the US and product developments in the Online business in 2019. We will invest in our proprietary technology as we continue to improve the competitiveness of our customer offering. We have also made great progress embedding a culture of safer gambling across the Group.
“This is an exciting time to be William Hill’s CEO. Our industry is evolving and this brings great opportunities, underlining the importance of our efforts to reposition the business. We look forward to building on these foundations with a renewed focus on customer, team and execution.”
William Hill change their CFO
Last week, William Hill announced that they had appointed a new CFO.
The online and in-store bookmaker said that DS Smith’s PLC current CFO Adrian Marsh, is set to join the company.
William Hill said that Marsh will join the company and be appointed as an Executive Director to the William Hill Board later this year.
Notably, the company’s current CFO, Ruth Prior will be leaving the Company to join Element Materials Technology. William Hill praised the prior experience of Marsh, saying that he had been Group CFO at DS Smith for the past seven years.
Under the guidance and leadership of Marsh, DS Smith won an elite promotion from the FTSE 250 to the FTSE 100.
William Hill concluded by saying that they will announce the formal appointment of Marsh and the departure of Ruth in due course.
Shares in William Hill trade at 173p (-1.76%). 26/2/20 11:22BST.
