While profits slid for UK bookmaker, William Hill in the first half of the year, it saw growth in a number of key areas including online betting and retail.
Reporting results for the 26 weeks to June 27, the company said net revenues increased three per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, to £837m, but pre-tax profits fell seven per cent to £93.5m.
The company’s H1 report cited higher “exceptional costs” as a result of implementing its transformation programme as the cause of the year-on-year drop in profits.
Philip Bowcock, chief executive officer, said: "The first half of 2017 has seen good progress against our three strategic priorities and wagering growth across all four divisions. Our product improvements combined with improved marketing have seen both existing customers respond positively and the number of new customers start growing again during the period. As a result we are seeing good momentum building in our online performance.
“In retail, we made market share gains, with growth in both sports betting, despite the lack of a major international football tournament and gaming revenues. Internationally, our US business continues to perform well and in Australia, with the upcoming Spring Carnival key to the full-year results, we are competing hard and diversifying our product range.
"Earlier in the year we targeted £40m of annualised savings as part of our transformation programme and we are on track to deliver this by the year end. In addition to these savings, the programme has sparked initiatives to further improve our products and customer experience, accelerate our top-line growth and increase efficiency. We are confident about delivering a good outturn in 2017 and beyond.”
