Online bookmaker William Hill have announced some great returns and positive growth in the fourteen weeks up to January 1st, 2013. Once again, Britain’s biggest bookmaker has been seeing an upward swing in financial growth, with the online operations taking huge steps forward. Earlier this week, William Hill were the biggest climbers on the FTSE 250 index following from the strengths over the final quarter of 2012. The profits for the group saw a 20% rise, coming in tow with a 12% rise in revenues. The estimated value of the pre tax profits were expected to be around £310 million, but it turned out that that number was exceeded to the sum of £330 million.
The online operations of William Hill are again recording tremendous growth. There was a 27% rise in revenue alone from their online operations, and as the group released their new Sportsbook iPad app back at the end of 2012, there upward trend in revenue should continue for the next financial quarter as well. Other important areas of William Hill’s online operations has been their virtual sports sites and mobile gaming. The investment that the betting site has made in technology is paying off in spades for them.
They will however, see some money flooding out of the door soon, as they stump up the £454 million needed to seal the acquisition of Sportingbet. William Hill finally agreed to a deal with gaming company Sportingbet for a takeover, and will turn their full force to the large share of Australian and Spanish online betting markets that Sportingbet enjoyed. The market expansions there are expected to account for a 4% growth in revenue for the gaming group in the foreseeable future. More expenses for William Hill should come in the bid to buy out their online venture partner Playtech, needing another £400 million to complete that and take full control.
