Lucky punters take a swipe at William Hill's third-quarter profits

Published on Monday 19 October 2009 21:03

MORE punters drew money from William Hill in its latest trading quarter, hitting the bookmaker's third-quarter results as a flood of money went on football match wins.

The group yesterday said its online business was particularly affected by "unfavourable sporting results" when there were only four draws in the English Premier League by the end of September.

Separately, the bookmaker said X Factor contestant Rikki Loney's exit from the reality TV show had cost it 60,000. "We were convinced that John and Edward (Grimes] would get the boot, so were happy to take a lot of money for Rikki, and that decision has cost us big-time," spokesman Rupert Adams said.

William Hill's revenues fell 3 per cent in the three months to 29 September.

Manchester United and Chelsea, two of the most heavily backed clubs in the English Premier league, each won six out of seven games to the end of September.

Earlier this month, rival Ladbrokes posted a 15 per cent fall in revenues. However, William Hill said its internal full-year expectations for the performance of its retail business remained unchanged.

The group, which has 2,300 betting offices in the UK and Ireland, said an increasing number of punters had placed bets.

Ralph Topping, William Hill's chief executive, said: "Business volumes both in our shops and online since the beginning of the football season in mid- August have been good, with strong turnover in our online sportsbook and encouraging levels of recycling in retail."

Despite the pressure on profit margins, the company said its online arm continued to make good progress, with revenues up 56 per cent in the third quarter.