by Anton Johan
The Chairman of William Hill Plc, Charles Scott, will be stepping down
from his role by the end of this year, announced the gambling giant on
Wednesday.
In a statement released, William Hill said it will start the process of
appointing a successor for Scott, who has been chairman since 2004. Scott served
as director for the group since 1999.
William Hill recently posted a positive report, which showed that things are
looking up for the company financially.
It showed that gross win margins for the fourth quarter up to the end of 2009
were back to 17 - 18%. As such, the group said that it expected a full year's
earning of around £250 million.
The group's online arm launched jointly with Playtech, William Hill Online,
reported that earnings for the full year were up 35%.
A buy note issued by analysts as Jefferies International said: "After an
extraordinary run of bad luck for bookmakers last year, the fourth quarter saw
results and betting patterns returning to normal levels. The online sportsbook
in particular is performing ahead of expectations, with materially better
margins than current consensus implies."
"With a rebuilt capital structure and an enlarged and retooled online
business, the company is poised for growth while normalizing gross win margins
and additional World Cup volumes could underpin a better 2010," the note added.
Another analyst gave his outlook for the general gaming industry and said:
"We believe that the outlook for land base gaming remains difficult and
uncertain - cyclical recovery is not a given and rises in unemployment could
weigh heavily."
"There are also potential tax risks and the seemingly inexorable rise in
machine income cannot continue indefinitely. We also perceive long term
structural challenges as horse racing continues to decline and the challenge of
the internet mounts."
