| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Gambling Operator Surpasses Profit Projections
- Saturday, 7 Jan 2006
William Hill is one of the largest and most successful online gambling operators today. The online gambling giant has recently reported that they have surpassed the profit projections for 2005, indicating that the online casino operator has had a much better year than expected. Earnings before interest and tax for the year ended Dec. 27 were "slightly" more than the online gambling operator’s forecast of 230 million pounds ($396 million) to 240 million pounds.
In November, the online gambling operator reported that profits will be below analyst estimates as customers won more bets. Chief Executive David Harding explains the discrepancy saying, “When we put out the statement a few weeks ago, we gave ourselves the headroom of assuming December carried on being the same as the rest of the year and actually it was pretty good. Football and horse racing came back to normal”.
William Hill’s statement eases concerns about waning profitability at Britain’s leading sports gambling bookmakers. Shares of William Hill, Ladbrokes owner Hilton Group Plc and Ireland’s Paddy Power Plc fell in November after the companies said earnings were hurt by too many winning favorites at U.K. horse-racing meetings.
As a result of the announcement, shares of William Hill rose as much as 14.5 pence, or 2.7 percent, to 550 pence in London and were 546.5 pence at 8:10 a.m. The stock declined 5 percent in 2005.
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