William Hill set for return to profit growth after online overhaul

Improved online betting features and some favourable sporting results are likely to help bookmaker William Hill return to profit growth this week.

Chief executive Philip Bowcock has been trying to improve the quality of its online business to make it more ­appealing to users. 

The move seems to have paid off, with consensus forecasts predicting a rise in adjusted earnings (ebitda) to roughly £290m for 2017. This would be an 11pc rise compared to 2016, when profits dropped 10pc to £261m.

The company is also likely to be helped by a string of bookmaker-friendly football results in December after some of the Premier League’s most heavily backed teams were held to draws rather than securing their ­expected wins. Analysts at investment bank UBS said customer loyalty was improving at William Hill and that it had increased its share of the amount of money being wagered by punters.

Broker Peel Hunt acknowledged the company’s January trading update was ahead of expectations, which boded well for the full-year results. 

However, it has held its 2018 forecasts on the view that a potential hit from the UK Government’s review into fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) seems more likely than the possible upside from the liberalisation of gambling laws in the US.

The Government’s review into FOBTs is key for William Hill and its ­rivals with a large retail estate. There has been growing speculation in ­recent weeks that ministers will opt to slash maximum stakes on the machines from £100, at present, down to £2.

The machines are a key component to shops’ profitability and the gambling industry has argued thousands of betting stores could close if the Government opted for the harshest outcome.

Critics of the machines are in favour of substantially reduced stakes because they blame them for contributing heavily to problem gambling.