William Hill plc (LON:WMH) is expected to reveal a strong start to the year after betting results from the Cheltenham horse racing festival swung in the bookmaker’s favour.
UK bookmakers enjoyed a successful Cheltenham this year after well-backed favourites failed to win many races. The previous two festivals had left bookmakers paying more than £100mln to customers.
Numis said William Hill, which reports its trading statement for the 17 weeks to 25 April on Tuesday, will have “benefitted from the bookmaker friendly results” at Cheltenham.
“We expect net revenue growth of broadly 6% with retail about 3% and online about 12% (fiscal year 2017 +7%, +2%, +12% respectively),” the broker said.
In February the company reported 2016 results that beat market expectations as its online operation showed signs of improvement. Pre-tax profit for the year to 27 December rose to £225.6mln from £224.3mln a year before and ahead of the consensus forecast of £214.2mln.
At the time, the company said there were positive trends in amounts wagered across all its divisions in the seven weeks to 14 February, including online where UK sportsbook grew 10% and UK gaming net revenue increased 8%.
A month later, William Hill confirmed the appointment of Philip Bowcock as its chief executive officer with immediate effect.
Bowcock, previously the group’s chief financial officer, was appointed the firm’s interim CEO in July 2016 when James Henderson quit.
During his time in the position, he has backed the company out of merger talks with Pokerstars owner Amaya Inc (TSE:AYA) and rejected an opportunistic approach from 888 Holdings PLC (LON:888) and bingo firm Rank Group PLC (LON:RNK).
William Hill’s chairman, Gareth Davis said: “Our recent results show that William Hill is now in a stronger position and Philip has outlined a clear plan to continue that momentum into the future."
The trading statement from William Hill comes after rival Paddy Power Betfair reported sportsbook revenue in the three months to 31 March that fell short of analysts’ expectations as a prosperous Cheltenham failed to offset weak results from other major sporting events.
Tuesday 9 May
Interims: Treatt PLC (LON:TET); Cambria Automobiles PLC (LON:CAMB)
Finals: Centralnic Group PLC (LON:CNIC); TyraTech Inc (LON:TYR)
AGM/EGM: Rightmove PLC (LON:RMV); William Hill PLC (LON:WMH)
Trading Statement: William Hill PLC (LON:WMH); Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC (LON:SPX)