COMPLY OR DIE WHACKS WILL HILL'S QUARTERLY RESULTS

25 April 2008

GBP 7 million hit for Brit bookie group


The unexpected victory in the Grand National horse race by Comply or Die was a GBP 7 million setback for Brit bookie group William Hill plc earlier this year, wiping out all of its profits from the rest of the three-day Aintree meeting and taking some of the sweetness out of its quarterly results.

The good news was that elsewhere business was good, with no noticeable decline in consumer betting activity despite difficult economic conditions in the national landscape.

Comply or Die's big win handed the bookie company it's biggest loss in the first 16 weeks of its new financial year.

Ralph Topping, William Hill chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper that the result was "an absolute stinker", holding back growth in over-the-counter gross win to 3 percent in the period to April 22, despite largely favourable results elsewhere.

"I watched the race with my trading director and I have never seen a man more nervous," Topping said. "He was down on his knees."

Gross win through Hill's network of 2 250 shops rose 7 percent in the period, boosted by a 16 percent rise from machine income as punters made the most of extended evening opening hours and new products, such as blackjack. The group has not seen any evidence of a consumer slowdown, Topping reported.

Topping also addressed fears over a regulatory crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals, saying these were as yet unfounded.
Interactive betting rose 5 percent, despite the depredations of the ongoing GBP 20 million project to replace the group's underperforming online gambling technology (see previous InfoPowa reports).

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