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William Hill cheered by Grand National and online growth

Published: 08:50 19 Apr 2013 BST

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William Hill (LON:WMH) had its best Grand National ever this year, which helped to offset a disappointing Cheltenham festival for the bookmaker.

Ralph Topping, Hill’s chief executive, said the company made more from long-shot Auroras Encore’s victory than even in 2009 when Mon Mome won at 100-1.

Rival Ladbrokes had already warned about the impact of the year’s Cheltenham results and William Hill confirmed they “were not as good for us this year”.

Overall, group revenue rose by 15% and operating profit by 8% in the 13 weeks to April, though adjusting for changes to the tax on gaming machines revenues were up by 11%.

Online revenues drove the increase with income up by 21% and profits 13% ahead at £43.3mln. Sportsbook wagers - online punts on sporting events - surpassed retail in all 13 weeks of the quarter, justifying the group's decision to take up the option to buy out junior partner's 29% stake in the joint venture earlier this year.

Betting shop revenues rose by 8%, though operating profits fell by 3%.

Ralph Topping said it had been a successful start to 2013, with strong gross win margins in both retail and online. The group was focused on developing its online business further, especially mobile-based options, he added.

“Mobile remains a high priority and is now a major contributor to Sportsbook's continued growth.

"We have beaten two of our three Sportsbook and mobile targets ahead of schedule, and are focusing on making mobile more than 40% of Sportsbook stakes before the end of this year.

"Having grown our UK online market share from 10% to 15% over the last four years, we aim to increase our share,“ he added.

Shares rose 4.5% to 408p.

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