N E W S A N A LY S I S
HILLS TOPS ANALYST 2011 LIST
As we reveal eGaming Review’s Power 50 operators of 2011, three out of four of the leisure and gaming industry’s top analysts single out William Hill Online’s progress in the last 12 months as the “turnaround story of the year”
BY JAMES BENNETT
day trip to Leeds is not everyone’s idea of a constructive 24 hours but when you are given the keys to the inner sanctum of a British bookmaking high street icon and an emerging online gaming force, and you are an analyst, you jump at the chance. This is what several of the City’s best did last month, emerging from a series of intense sessions with key management and concluding that the company in question is by far and away the industry’s most transformed B2C business, and arguably egaming’s current champion operator. As Simon French of Panmure Gordon says in his exclusive column for eGaming Review following last month’s meeting (see page 20), William Hill is “no longer a high street retail business. The presentations in Leeds reinforced our view that this is a technology-driven, consumer brands business with an increasing number of multi-channel customers who are being offered more ways to bet on more events than ever before”.
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and complement its 2,300 UK betting shop estate. In just 36 months it has achieved almost as much as it has in retail in 77 years. Since the deal was cemented the numbers have exploded, its marketing output has sharpened, its products improved and it has become more attractive to a new, younger audience, while its overall brand image has been reinvigorated from that of a smoke-?lled bookie to a clean, fresh-faced, modern digital multi-channel location where punters can enjoy a varied gaming experience. Last year the World Cup helped the
Leeds and Gibraltar-based business attain record ?nancials, with impressive growth running into 2011 with Hills recording a 23% year-on-year increase in online net revenues in the ?rst half, and the egaming gap widening between arch rival Ladbrokes whose numbers repeatedly fail to impress analysts. Ladbrokes’ online net revenue for the ?rst half fell behind analyst estimates at £85.7m due to lower than expected casino performance. Its net revenue growth, after adjusting for the World Cup, was 6.6% and 19.1% in digital and sportsbook respectively. Its termination of merger talks with Sportingbet on 10 October could well see that gap widen even further. In comparison Hills' ?rst-half rise – from £124.2m to £152.7m for the 26 weeks ended 30 June – was accompanied by a 2% rise in retail revenues, helping contribute to a pro?t before tax of £126.9m, a 23% increase over the same period in 2010.
Product focus Chief executive Ralph Topping, who signed a new contract in June, attributed the online ?gures to “outstanding sportsbook growth” and innovations in in-play and mobile, with a new mobile offering in partnership with now Playtech-owned Mobenga expected to drive further growth.
ANALYSE THIS
TOP FIVE OPERATORS OF THE YEAR: ANALYST PICKS
James Hollins Numbers speak for themselves Five years ago, the company was unrecognisable from the online powerhouse it is rapidly becoming. The turning point came with the signing of a landmark joint venture deal with Playtech in 2008 that created a revenue-sharing egaming business that would generate hundreds of thousands more customers
analyst, Evolution Securities
1 William Hill Online 2 Paddy Power 3 Bet365 4 bwin.party 5 PokerStars
David Jennings
analyst, Davy
1 Paddy Power 2 William Hill Online 3 Bet365 4 Sportingbet 5 Unibet
Nicholas Batram
analyst, Peel Hunt
1 William Hill Online 2 Bet365 3 Paddy Power 4 888 5 32Red
Simon French
analyst, Panmure Gordon
1 William Hill Online 2 Sportingbet 3 32Red 4 888 5 Netplay TV
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