William Hill enjoys big kick-off

The company, which has more than 2,350 shops in the UK and Ireland, reported a 22 per cent jump in net revenues for the 13 weeks to September 28 and said positive trading trends had been maintained in

the period since then.

Shares rose 4 per cent following the update, although William Hill cooled expectations for next year given higher VAT, economic conditions and government cuts.

Chief executive Ralph Topping said: "The group has performed strongly in the quarter, even taking into account the weak prior year comparatives."

Last year's performance was impacted by a winning start to the football season by Chelsea and Manchester United and the low incidence of draws – the bookies' favourite result.

This year's start to the football season has been better for bookies, while the third quarter also benefited from the later stages of the World Cup and a continued good performance in machine income.

Mr Topping added: "Given the strong performance seen in the third quarter of the year, the group now expects to deliver operating profit around the top of the current range of analyst forecasts for the year as a whole."

He said this was dependent on the outcome of sporting results and other factors over the final quarter of the year.

Analysts expect the group to report operating profit for the year of 253m, with a range of 247m to 262m, according to a company-supplied consensus.

Investec analysts Paul Leyland upgraded his expectation for 2010 earnings per share by 5.5 per cent to 19.3p and pre-tax profit by 4.5 per cent to 200.6m after the update.

"This was driven almost entirely by a better than average football margin and so we are not changing 2011E forecasts," he said yesterday.

"However, we are encouraged that William Hill has clearly beaten Ladbrokes on every line and continues to deliver strong growth in machines."

William Hill Online – launched a year ago – delivered a 35 per cent hike in third quarter revenues and saw earnings rise 80 per cent to 26.3m.

It is expanding the internet offering in the UK and internationally, while also keeping a tight control on costs in the retail arm.