LONDON (dpa-AFX) - William Hill Plc (WMH.L), a gambling company, on Thursday said first-quarter sales and operating profit increased in double-digits from last year, driven by excellent margin performance from Retail together with continued strong growth from William Hill Online. The company remains confident in its expectations for the year.
In an Interim Management Statement for the 13 weeks ended March 27, the company said group net revenue grew 12 percent from last year, while operating profit increased 19 percent.
Retail net revenue advanced 5 percent. Amounts wagered grew 2 percent. The business benefitted from gross win growth from both OTC and gaming machines.
Online net revenue increased 33 percent from last year. Sportsbook net revenue climbed 58 percent and amounts wagered increased 31 percent. Gaming net revenue grew 19 percent.
Telephone net revenue fell 4 percent and amounts wagered fell by 22 percent, following the cessation of certain high staking client activity.
William Hill said the Nevada licensing application to complete its US acquisitions is progressing well and remains within the timetable guided.
The company has revised its effective tax rate guidance for 2012 to 17 percent from 20 percent, reflecting an increased deferred tax credit as well as the statutory tax rate reduction. The effective cash tax rate for the year is expected to reduce from 22 percent to around 21 percent.
For 2013, the effective tax rate is expected to be around 18 percent and the cash tax rate around 20 percent.
Looking ahead, the company said, 'The strong performance across the business in the first quarter is pleasing, albeit benefitting from a gross win margin above the normalised and expected range. With positive underlying trends at this relatively early stage in the year, the Board remains confident in its expectations for the full year.'
WMH.L is currently trading at 275 pence, up 3.07 percent, on a volume of 1.60 million shares.
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© 2012 AFX News
