As reported by: Bloomberg
William Hill Plc, the U.K.'s second- largest bookmaker, said full-year profit beat its forecast as a run of winning wagers by customers came to an end.

Earnings before interest and tax for the year ended Dec. 27 were "slightly" more than the company's forecast of 230 million pounds ($396 million) to 240 million pounds, Chief Executive David Harding said today in an interview. William Hill in November said profit will be below analyst estimates as customers won more bets.

"When we put out the statement a few weeks ago, we gave ourselves the headroom of assuming December carried on being the same as the rest of the year and actually it was pretty good," Harding said. "Football and horse racing came back to normal."

William Hill's statement eases concerns about waning profitability at Britain's leading bookmakers. Shares of William Hill, Ladbrokes owner Hilton Group Plc and Ireland's Paddy Power Plc fell in November after the companies said earnings were hurt by too many winning favorites at U.K. horse-racing meetings.

Shares of William Hill rose as much as 14.5 pence, or 2.7 percent, to 550 pence in London and were 546.5 pence at 8:10 a.m. The stock declined 5 percent in 2005.

Harding said William Hill is seeing "phenomenal growth" in its online poker business, particularly in the U.K. and Europe. The company's Internet casino and online sports-betting operation are also performing well, he said.


Article By: Bloomberg