Profits are down 7% at William Hill for 1st half 2017, year-over-year, but that’s not a problem for fairly new CEO Philip Bowcock.
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It was a mixed bag for United Kingdom bookmaker William Hill when it reported its financials for the first half of 2017, indicating that while revenues were up 3% from the same period one year ago, profits were down 7% for that same period of reference. The report disseminated along with the financial findings referenced “exceptional costs” as an important element leading to less-than-favorable profits.
William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock has remained optimistic, as expected from someone leading an important company in any industry when financial news may not excite shareholders. Bowcock is trying to draw attention away from the decrease in profits and instead have people believe that the long-term plan will start showing results in the remainder of the year.
“Earlier in the year we targeted £40m of annualized savings as part of our transformation program and we are on track to deliver this by the year end,” said Bowcock. “In addition to these savings, the program 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.”
Along with serenading investors with savings talk, Bowcock is further blaming poor profits on “volatile sporting results” and a lack of any major soccer tournaments during the summer months, noting that first half 2016 revenues were boosted by the Euro 2016 tournament, an event that occurs once every four years. Bowcock’s optimism is also resulting in a sort of mixed bag reaction. ETX Capital senior market analyst Neil Wilson says he is concerned with William Hill’s online division’s drop in revenue, as it accounts for the majority of inbound money for the company. Additionally, Real Bookies CEO Claire Flemming feels that William Hill has squandered opportunities by spending too much time and money on ramping up a social media presence that is likely not providing the results expected as of yet.
Even though there is a fair amount of skepticism, Bowcock’s leadership initially led William Hill’s stock to rise, which is a good sign for the CEO who was only named to the position in March. People must have faith in Bowcock’s claim that depressing profits were also a result of matches simply going in the favor of bettors, which is something that is a bit more difficult for a bookmaker to control.
Long-term, the goal is a marked shift from retail to online and observers are buying in on that plan, as well as Bowcock’s leadership. That said, profits will need to rebound in order to keep people in his corner.
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