William Hill sees Australia growth after acquisitions

The company, which employs more than 3,000 people in Yorkshire, including over 1,300 people in Leeds, has expanded aggressively through acquisitions in recent months, spending almost £900m to take full control of its online operations and buy rival gambling company Sportingbet, giving it access to Australia.

“We are excited by the opportunity we see to develop William Hill Australia by improving our digital offer and targeting the recreational customer,” chief executive Ralph Topping said.

“Taking control of online is giving us more freedom both to invest and to use that expertise across the group, including in Australia,” he added.

Operating profit rose 8 percent to £181.4m in the 26 weeks to July 2, just ahead of consensus forecasts. Revenues were up by 20 per cent to £751.6m.

A familiar name on the British high street where it has almost 2,400 betting shops, William Hill has also become a market leader in the growing online gambling sector and started to reduce its reliance on its domestic market.

Shares have risen by around 70 per cent over the past year and a market capitalisation of over £4.2bn makes William Hill Europe’s biggest gambling company.

Its expansion has propelled it into the FTSE 100 index of leading British companies, drawing in additional investors.

Ladbrokes, Britain’s second largest bookmaker, has failed to keep pace with William Hill’s advance, suffering a series of setbacks to its digital operations and seen potential acquisitions fail to come off.

Ladbrokes reports its first half results next Thursday.