William Hill sees full year profit at upper end of view

William Hill, which has 2,300 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, said trading had been good in the final quarter of 2009 with gross win margins returning to normal levels of 17-18 per cent following a run of punter-friendly football results.

The group expects to make an operating profit of around 250m for the full-year.

William Hill said net revenue for the fourth-quarter was up six per cent and it expected net revenue for the full-year to be around four per cent higher than in 2008.

Shares in William Hill closed last night at 185.6 pence, valuing the business at 1.3bn.

Britain's biggest bookmaker Ladbrokes is due to publish full-year results in February.