Hills Q1 online revenues down 11%
Operator blames punter-friendly results and regulatory headwinds for setback
William Hill this morning reported an 11% drop in online revenues for Q1, driven by a customer friendly European football results and losses at Cheltenham.
Sportsbook revenues accounted for most of the year-on-year decline, falling 17%, while gaming revenues were also down 4%.
In the UK, amounts wagered declined 2% but Hills said the 2015 Q1 benefited from turnover from a tennis product that was turned off in mid-2015 and, excluding this, UK wagering was up 2%.
Gaming net revenue declined 5%, although Hills continued to blame the impact of self-exclusions. “We are monitoring this closely but, at this stage, these trends remain unchanged,” the firm said in its trading update.
William Hill CEO James Henderson added: “It has been a tough start to the year in Online, which is being impacted by both regulatory change and a gross win margin below normalised levels for the period due to a disappointing Cheltenham festival and unfavourable European football results.
“Trends in recent weeks remain in line with the guidance we gave in March.”
In emerging markets, Hills reported more positive results, with overall amounts wagered in Australia increasing 10%, albeit with a lower win margin thanks to customer-friendly racing results.
In the US business, amounts wagered were up 31% and net revenue was up 38% with gross win margins higher year-on-year, benefiting from a positive Super Bowl.