William Hill in the United Kingdom suffered a £238 write down in its Australian division in 2017 according to official results released by the company.
The reduction in the estimated value of the Australian arm did significant damage to the company’s online revenue potentials.
According to William Hill UK, the company made a total £1.71 billion as a result of a 7 per cent increase throughout 2017 to when the books were closed on December 26. Casting aside certain expenses, the company worked on a modified operating profit of £291.3 million, based on 11 per cent rise. If the accounts were not adjusted in any way, the company actually suffered a pre-tax loss of £74.6 million on the £181.3 million taken in 2016.
Following the devastating damage from William Hill Australia, the headquarters in the UK examined the division’s books in January and concluded that the loss was not unconnected to recent prohibitions on credit betting and online in-play.
This is in addition to fear of emerging point-of-consumption taxes.
The company looks forward to completing the review of the Australian arm by the middle of this year.
The results from William Hill Australia did considerable damage to the company’s online operations. The Aussie division had never enjoyed perfect goodwill in the face of international reviews, but the company still recorded a total income of 13 per cent rise to £617 million. This included a one-third adjusted operating profit that amounted to £132.5. This achievement is noteworthy, considering the fact that William Hill UK had begun the online horse betting levy together with parts of Remote Gaming Duty to free bet offers.
Interplay of factors helped UK to Absorb the write down from Australia
To this extent, William Hill UK’s mobile and desktop products helped to raise the company’s margins to facilitate a 10 per cent rise in the revenue for online sports as well as 14 per cent increase in sports turnover to earn £308.3 million.
Furthermore, the mobile share for sports turnover rose from 12 points to 82 per cent. The company’s 2017 first quarter launch of single wallet and improvements to its cross-sell product offers enabled the company to record 12 per cent increase in its digital gaming income, totalling £306.6 million.
