William Hill profit rises; sees progress in 2017 – MarketWatch

LONDON--Bookmaker William Hill PLC (WMH.LN) Wednesday recorded a 2% rise in first-half adjusted pretax profit and said it expects to make good progress in 2017 and beyond.

The company, which operates betting shops and a website in the U.K. as well as operations in the U.S. and Australia, said adjusted pretax profit--which excludes exceptional items--rose to 111.2 million pounds ($143.2 million) during the 26 weeks ended June 27, compared with GBP109.3 million a year earlier. Pretax profit was down 7% to GBP93.5 million in the first half from GBP100.7 million a year earlier

The company's net revenue rose 3% to GBP837 million compared with GBP814.4 million a year earlier.

"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," Chief Executive Philip Bowcock said.

The company added it is on track to deliver GBP40 million of annualized savings by the year-end and is confident about delivering a good outturn in 2017 and beyond.

-Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter: @Raztweet

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William Hill profit rises; sees progress in 2017 - MarketWatch