Published
FinancialIndustry

William Hill posts £722m pre-tax 2018 loss due to "exceptional charges"

William Hill has reported a loss of £722m ($956m) before tax for 2018, compared with a profit of £147m for the previous year. This comes despite revenue rising 2% from £1.59bn to £1.62bn.

williamhill 2017

The operator attributed its loss to costs of £922m, which includes an £882.8m exceptional retail impairment charge following the UK government’s Triennial Review into fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) stakes.  

The company continued to expand its US footprint, now live in six states with access secured to 17 in total. It also completed the acquisition of Mr Green for c£242m in January.  

But adjusted operating profit from existing operations declined 3% to £266.8m, although this was in line with company expectations.

Full-year dividend is reported as £0.12 per share, in line with policy to pay out approximately 50% of underlying earnings before US expansion costs.

Philip Bowcock, William Hill CEO, described 2018 as a busy and decisive year for the operator.  

He said: "We know the next few years will require careful navigating and investment, but with a clear strategy and diverse, experienced leadership teams in place, we are ready to capitalise on the opportunities available to us."

This announcement is in line with mixed results from H1 2018, when net revenue increased by 3% to £802.6m.

However, adjusted operating profit declined 12% for the first half of the year, to £113.6m, and profit before tax fell by 13% to £96.3m.

Premium+ Connections
Premium

1xBet Partners

 
Premium

GammaStack

 
Premium

Imagine Live

 
Premium

Digitain

 
Premium

Revsharks

 
Premium

Lynon

 
Premium

Galaxsys

 
Premium

Sport Generate

 
Premium

PIN-UP Partners

 
Premium

RISK

 
 
Premium Connections
Consultancy

SCCG Management

Executive Profiles
Zeal Network SE

Stefan Tweraser

VIP Play

Les Ottolenghi

Scientific Games

Keshav Pitani

Social & App

Spribe CEO exclusive: Simplicity is the foundation

Spribe CEO David Natroshvili speaks to Gambling Insider abou...

Redefining iGaming: A history of crash games

Crash games is a growing vertical that has taken gambling by...

A certain something: What makes crash games special?

Crash games. They’re simple, they’re easy to learn and,...

Smarter innovation to shape the future

Spribe CCO Giorgi Tsutskiridze discusses the past, present a...

Facing Facts: The corner of quarterly contemplation

With Q1 reports out across the industry, Gambling Insider co...

Taking Stock: A guide to key stock prices across the industry

Gambling Insider tracks prices from some of the industry’s...

15 years of Gambling Insider: From the Founders

Over the last 15 years, Gambling Insider magazine has interv...

15 years of Gambling Insider: The Awards over time

Global Gaming Awards Event Manager Mariya Savova gives us he...