Key facts.
Description
William Hill is synonymous with delivering a thrilling gaming and betting experience, whether online, in our shops, on the phone, or on the move. A trusted brand, taking almost £19bn in stakes in 2012, we are building our business by bringing the excitement of gaming and betting to UK and international customers through strong online and retail partnerships. Our expertise, passion and relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction deliver an unrivalled experience for our customers, sustainable growth for the business and good returns for our shareholders.
About William Hill
History
Founded in 1934, William Hill is one of the best-known names in the UK gambling industry. The company started out as a postal / telephone betting service where a punter would send a bet with a cheque weeks in advance of an event. In 1961, betting shops became legal and William Hill joined the market in 1966. Today we are the largest UK operator of betting shops, with over 2,390 shops representing around 26% of the market. 1998 was an important year for William Hill, when we became the first in the industry to launch an online betting facility, our Sportsbook. The Internet has changed the face of the industry, bringing in new, younger punters for a range of gambling and gaming activities, as well as providing an easy way to place a bet.
Our history
Operations
William Hill has two sets of operations, online and land-based. William Hill Online is one of the leading European online gaming and sports betting businesses. Our online Sportsbook serves customers from over 175 countries and we offer online casino, poker, bingo and skill games. Our land-based operations include our network of over 2,390 shops in the UK.
About William Hill
Corporate responsibility
Gambling is a fun, exciting and popular pastime, ingrained in our culture. For most, it is an enjoyable leisure activity. However there is a small number of people for whom gambling is a problem, and we recognise our responsibility in helping to tackle that problem. Corporate responsibility for William Hill is about more than those few customers who suffer from a problem with gambling. It is about how we do business, and how we treat all our stakeholders: employees, suppliers, customers and the communities in which we operate.
Corporate responsibility
Financial results
The Group has delivered a very positive performance in 2012, underpinned by the relevance of its multi-channel approach to UK consumers, with strong performance in shops, online and via mobile devices. Group net revenue grew 12% to £1,276.9m (2011: £1,136.7m) and operating profit grew by 20% to £330.6m (2011: £275.7m).
William Hill Online saw its third consecutive year of above 20% net revenue growth. Sportsbook continues to lead the way with net revenue up 50%, benefitting from both an above-average gross win margin and strong underlying staking growth at +36%. Gaming net rvenue increased 14%. Overall Online net revenue was 27% higher at £406.7m and operating profit was up 36% to £145.3m.
Retail saw a good performance from both over-the-counter (OTC) betting and gaming machines, with net revenue up 7% and 5%, respectively. OTC net revenue benefitted from a strong gross win margin as favourable sporting results ran across the year. Amounts wagered were impacted by weather-related horse race fixture cancellations, reduced recycling and the Olympic effect through August. Through good cost control, the +6% Retail net revenue growth translated into operating profit growth of +7%.
We have made good progress in strategic development during 2012. In addition to launching online in Spain and expanding our Italian website offering, we were licensed in Nevada in June and established William Hill US by acquiring three land-based sports betting businesses. We are now in the process of acquiring the remaining 29% stakes in William Hill Online from our joint venture partner Playtech fro £424m, as well as acquiring certain elements of Sportingbet plc’s business for £460m, which will take us into a new key market in Australia and will strengthen our position in Spain.
2012 final results
Shares in issue
862,872,987 shares in issue as at 8 April 2013.
Listings
William Hill is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol WMH.L).
Share information
Market capitalisation
Market Cap: £3.35bn as at 12 April 2013.
Employees
William Hill employs around 16,800 people in the UK, Gibraltar, Israel, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, the US and the Philippines.
Head Office and Registered Office
William Hill
Greenside House
50 Station Road
Wood Green
London N22 7TP
UK
Tel: +44 020 8918 3600
Contact us