William Hill shares fall 7pc as group swings into loss

William Hill (LON: WMH) has reported a £819.6 million loss in the six months to 26 June and has blamed the UK government’s clampdown on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

The British booker £883 million hit from the decision on FOBTs leading the FTSE 250 company to swing into a loss from the £93.6 million profit a year earlier.

Ministers have delayed the new rules till 2020 following pressure from booking firms. William Hill has said that the changes will lead 900 of its betting shops to become loss-making.

“We assume that all shops that become loss-making will be closed, other than a sample of shops which are estimated to only make small losses compared to much larger shop closure costs and therefore would be kept open until their lease expiry,” said the group in its half-year results released on Friday.

Closure of the 900 shops could lead to 4,500 job losses.

The group have also said they will take a renewed approach to reduce the harm that can be caused by gambling.

“Fundamental to delivering over the long term will be our sustainability strategy, which marks a significant cultural change for the company,” said Philip Bowcock, the chief executive.

“Gambling-related harm is a serious issue and it is important that we face up to this challenge. We have set ourselves the ambition that nobody is harmed by gambling and set out a detailed programme of actions as we start out on this journey.”

The firm has revealed plans to expand in the US.

“William Hill is one player among many which hope to profit from the US sports betting market as it develops,” said Ivor Jones, an analyst at broker Peel Hunt.

“We forecast a period of intense and expensive competition as new states regulate and success with regulation [multiple states regulating quickly] will lead to a higher spike in competition and startup losses. It will be hard to know the right time to buy into William Hill’s US story but we are sure this isn’t it.”

Shares in the group fell seven percent on Friday morning. They are currently trading down 7.53 percent at 270.20 (1351GMT).

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