Poll results: William Hill still has heavy lifting to do
Voters suggest the operator is still playing catch-up despite positive signs in 2017
William Hill still has a long way to go before it can claim to have turned the corner, according to a sizeable majority of respondents to this week’s poll.
More than 70% of voters took a dim view of the firm’s prospects following last week’s full year results that included a 3% drop in Online revenues, at a time when the market is growing somewhere between 10-14%.
The firm is also still seeking a new CEO after failing to attract some of its top choices, and management has spoken about the need to invest heavily in technology.
However, there were enough green shoots of recovery in the first few weeks of 2017 that 30% of poll respondents said the firm had turned the corner.
Online sportsbook wagering was up 8% in the seven weeks to 14 February 2017 and gaming net revenue was up 5% with the UK delivering “sustained growth”, according to interim CEO Philip Bowcock.
“2016 was a challenging year for William Hill, but one in which we made considerable operational progress, leaving us well-placed to drive the business forward in 2017,” Bowcock said.
“We have delivered extensive product, user experience and marketing improvements in online, modernised our retail management structure to focus more on the customer and continued to grow in our key international markets.
“There are now encouraging signs in all our divisions, in particular online’s UK business, which is now delivering sustained growth.”
“There’s a lot of heavy lifting being done. Going forward the business is well set for 2017 and the foreseeable future,” Bowcock added.