William Hill points to mobile and international growth in Q3

William Hill said it had “moved ahead” internationally in Q3 on the back of results that saw strong growth in both Italian and Spanish market share.

Italian market share was up to 14% for the three months ended 30 September 2014, while its share of the Spanish sports betting market was up to 20%.

And group finance director Neil Cooper said the firm’s strong online and mobile products were helping it stand out, particularly in the Italian market.

“We are spending a competitive amount on marketing in Italy and Spain, but it’s also true that in sports we would see our product as superior to the domestic incumbents,” Cooper said.

“In Italy we’ve got a better product and frankly the pace of deregulation is probably the thing that is hindering us from showing our wares because it’s going quite slowly,” Cooper added.

But although William Hill CEO James Henderson reiterated the firm expects to be profitable in Italy by the end of next year, it was in the UK where it saw bottom line growth in the period with Q3 online operating profits up 124% year-on-year.

And once again William Hill’s gaming performance impressed with its mobile casino the major factor in revenues climbing 23% against the previous year.

Underlying growth in gaming was between 15-20% with the World Cup effect taken out with the majority of that coming through the mobile channel.

“Mobile remains the driver of activity with mobile gaming revenue now making up 31% of total net gaming revenue,” Cooper said.

Sportsbook was the strongest performer in the quarter, with revenue doubling compared to the previous year on the back of a run of good results.

Margin of 9.4% was significantly up on the comparable period in 2013 and well up on the 7.1% reported in H1 2014.

Both Henderson and Cooper were keen to draw attention to the impact the final two weeks of the World Cup and the start of the Premier League season had on the results.

“Pre-match football results were the main driver of an improved performance with pre-match margin moving from 7.2% to 12.6%. In-play margins were more stable at 5.8% against 5.1% last year,” Cooper said.

But they added sports wagering grew 11% with the World Cup removed with the majority of that coming through in-play with pre-match growth slowing to 6%.

And Henderson said he felt the firm was well positioned for the introduction of the new PoC regime.

“We are ready for UK licensing, and I’m confident we’ve done everything we can to be competitive and compliant,” Henderson said.

And he added the much talked about pricing wars that were anticipated in the run up to the new licensing regime have failed to materialise.

“I think we saw a competitive approach earlier in the year, but it seems to have settled down now. From a pricing point of view I haven’t seen anyone act any differently in the lead up,” Henderson said.