William Hill warns in-store betting will never recover
William Hill is to shut another 119 high street betting shops after warning that in-store gambling will never recover to pre-crisis levels.
The FTSE 250 firm took action after tumbling to a £14.2m underlying pre-tax loss for the six months to June, down from a £51m profit for the same period last year.
Revenues slumped by a third to £554m, while the bookmaker also suffered a £81.9m hit on the value of its retail estate.
However, bosses said that the group has seen a robust recovery since live sport restarted and its shops reopened, allowing it to pay back £24.5m of taxpayer cash claimed through the state-funded furlough scheme when staff were unable to work.
During lockdown, William Hill furloughed more than 7,000 staff across its 1,500 betting shops.
William Hill said: "The group has been impacted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to the group taking the decision to not re-open a further 119 shops after lockdown restrictions were lifted in the UK and to increased uncertainty of future high street retail cashflows."
The company said only 16 jobs will be affected as more than 200 workers will be redeployed rather than laid off. William Hill has 12,000 staff including 7,000 in Britain.
Last year, the firm closed 700 shops following a Government crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals
Its decision to close more of its high street stores represents a shift away from in-store trading towards online betting – a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic as locked-down punters embraced the internet.
Ulrik Bengtsson, chief executive, said: "Clearly we have seen a shift from retail into online – more so in our international business than in the UK."
Online revenues rose by 1pc to £369.3m in the first half, driven by a 10pc jump in the firm's international arm. The company is seeking to conquer the US market after a longstanding sports betting ban was overturned two years ago by the Supreme Court.
Mr Bengtsson added: "Our trading was strong before Covid-19, we controlled costs effectively during lockdown and we have recovered well post-lockdown with good performances in our online businesses throughout the first half."
Despite the better-than-expected performance, William Hill will keep its dividend suspended until further notice.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said: "Following the robust start to [2020] we remain confident in the long term prospects of the business and believe that the value of the US business is not reflected in the share price."
Shares climbed 4pc to 122p but were close to 200p at the start of the year.
