William Hill looks for a new CEO with Henderson out

ably the most significant CEO departure in the UK gambling industry this year has now occurred, as William Hill has announced that James Henderson has stepped down.

Henderson was appointed in 2014, moving up from the position of Group Director, Operations, and the operator said the search for his replacement has already begun, while CFO Philip Bowcock has been appointed interim CEO.

It is unclear as of yet whether William Hill will look to make an internal or external appointment.

The resignation will bring an end to an association with the business that has lasted for 31 years for Henderson.

A potential reason for the unrest at William Hill could be its failure to capitalise on the M & A activity that has been going on in the industry lately, as it failed in its attempt to buy 888 Holdings last year, while Paddy Power and Betfair completed their merger in February and Ladbrokes and Gala Coral still plan to merge.

However, chairman Gareth Davis seemed to make it reasonably clear where the problem lies.

He said: "James's career with William Hill has spanned over 30 years covering the retail, online and international businesses. We would like to thank him for his significant contribution and we wish him all the best for the future. Philip has a clear set of priorities as Interim CEO, principally the continued turnaround of the online business. We will confirm a successor in the coming months."

That reference to the principal priority of the online business is telling.

Online net revenue for 2015 was £550.7m, up 4%, but online gross profit went down 11% to £424.6m and online operating profit descended 29% to £126.5m, with William Hill saying online figures were impacted by the UK point-of-consumption tax regime implemented in December 2014.

Net revenue for online then dropped 11% year-on-year for the 17 weeks ended 26 April, though the to and from figures were not published.

William Hill said trading “remains in line with the previous guidance of £260-280m of operating profit in 2016.”

Henderson will remain an employee of William Hill for four weeks for transition purposes.

Shares in William Hill were up 5.7p from the previous day’s close on Wednesday morning, to 280.8p.