As reported by: The Western Mail
William Hill is in the winner's enclosure after a 27% rise in underlying profits for the first half of 2003.

The group, which runs 1,581 shops, shrugged off comparisons with last year, when the football World Cup boosted interest, as it saw underlying profits rise to £101.9m.

The company, which floated on the stock exchange last year, saw gross win - the success it has with punters - increase across its retail, telephone and interactive gambling operations.

At a time when bookies have suffered disappointing results at key events such as the Cheltenham Festival, gross win from William Hill's retail operations raced ahead by 18%.

It said the growth resulted from offering punters a string of new ways to gamble, including rolling out fixed odds betting terminals and introducing virtual greyhound racing screens at its stores.

Chief executive David Harding said the initiative meant dog-racing fans could now have a bet earlier in the day and more frequently.

He said, "That's the kind of thing people want - they want to be able to have more smaller bets; it's the fun of betting."

The number of fixed odds betting terminals across its stores increased from 1,745 to 2,525 during the first six months of 2003 - meaning that 95% of its branches now have at least one machine.

In telephone betting, gross win was ahead by 3% on the same period last year despite seeing race results go against it at Cheltenham.

Its interactive operations saw gross win leap 32% with "exceptionally strong" growth in its online casino boosted by a new online poker game.