Written by Eric | Friday, January 28th, 2011

The massive UK bookmaker giant William Hill has publicly announced operating profits of £275 million from 2010, far above their predicted forecasts.

William Hill Plc was founded way back in 1934 before gambling was even legal in the UK. Since then they have become one of the largest bookmakers in the UK and employ more than 2,000 people.

William Hill invested heavily on their internet business in the last few years by offering a selection of online betting, casino and online poker services, and now those rewards have seemed to have paid off.  Online sports betting saw a rise of 57% in turnover in the last quarter of 2010 which heavily contrasts with the lowly 4% growth witnessed by brick and mortar betting shops in the UK.

The bookmaker’s gambling arm has seen a surge in profits especially from online sports betting.  A 57% increase in sportsbook turnover was helped by a 114% growth in-play betting, more than double the 2009 in-play betting turnover.  William Hill’s revenue growth worked out at 7% for 2010.

The group’s Finance Director at William Hill stated that in-play turnover should have been higher due to the fact that William Hill’s in-play provisions for Horse Racing are yet to be announced.  He mentioned that a lot of the success from their in-play platform came from a flurry of investments in TV advertisement on Sky and ITV channels during live football matches.

The operating profits of £275 had surprised many stock analysts since poor weather in December saw 50% of Horse Races cancelled.  One Premier League weekend also only saw one game played as so many of the football pitches in England became frozen over.

After making small profits in their Telephone business, it is reported that William Hill will close these services next month.

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