EGR Power 50 2019: William Hill (07)
07. William Hill (06)
FINANCIALS: Online revenue in H1 2019 fell 2% year-on-year (on a pro forma basis) to £367.3m, while digital operating profit was also down 12%
STRATEGY & IMPACT: Shifted its focus in recent years to attract a more recreational customer base, which has led to some far healthier customer metrics
GEOGRAPHIC REACH: UK accounts for the lion’s share, although it is growing in the US and the addition of Mr Green provides further European diversification
INFLUENCE & LEADERSHIP: Hills remains one of the world’s biggest sportsbook brands and has already become one of the early leaders in the booming US betting market
William Hill will no doubt feel aggrieved it hasn’t made any gains in this year’s Power 50. After all, this was the year the London-listed operator finally completed a fairly chunky acquisition in the form of Mr Green, found the distraction of the FOBT had officially concluded, and it had continued to make strides in the nascent US sports betting market. So instead of going up the rankings, why has William Hill in fact done the opposite?
Last year, the UK bookmaker was neck-and-neck with Tipico and only edged out the Germany-facing operator into sixth place by a wafer-thin margin. As alluded to in Tipico’s entry on the previous page, this time around it outperformed much of the market in the 12-month Power 50 reporting period. At William Hill, in contrast, it’s a very different story. Talk of a major comeback has been mooted for a while now, but online growth is still proving somewhat elusive with net revenue down 2% to £367.3m in H1 2019 on a pro forma basis, while operating profit also declined 12%.
It isn’t all bad news at Hills though. The addition of Mr Green to the business does indeed provide some respite for the firm’s flagship UK-facing business where it continues to be hampered by regulation and robust competition. This means non-UK markets are now contributing approximately a third of total digital revenue; the deal also gives William Hill a new international base in Malta from which to increase that number even further.
However, it’s the US where William Hill believes its future truly lies. Prior to the repeal of PASPA in May 2018, Hills already had a healthy headstart with mobile sports betting in place in Nevada
and dozens of books up and running in Las Vegas casinos. More than a dozen US states have since legalised sports betting, and Eldorado’s acquisition of Caesars this year will give Hills access to an additional 34 casino licences.
US growth, or possibly even further acquisitions, seems to be the key to William Hill unlocking its potential and returning back to the top of the EGR Power 50. Can Hills achieve this in the face of increasing fervent competition stateside?