SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The full-year 2022 financial accounts of William Hill Limited have been filed by 888 Holdings with the corporate register of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Temporarily under the ownership of Caesars Entertainment Inc and accounting for the assets of William Hill UK and Mr Green, the company was acquired by 888 on 1 July 2022.
Results filed with the FCA detail the financial performance of William Hill’s business (pre-acquisition) for 52 weeks ending 27 December 2022.
2022 trading saw William Hill’s standalone business generate net revenues of £1.23bn, a fraction below the £1.24bn revenue result generated in 2021.
Highlights saw William Hill achieve the headline objective of recovering its retail performance, which saw a 53% increase in net revenue, reaching £514.2m in 2022 up from £336.8m in 2021, primarily due to the absence of UK lockdowns in 2022
The group’s retail recovery delivered an adjusted EBITDA contribution increased to £95.7m in 2022 from £0.1m in 2021.
However, the firm’s UK Online unit experienced a 19% decrease in net revenue, falling from £628.6m in 2021 to £509.1m in 2022 – attributed to customers returning to retail shops post-lockdown and enhanced customer safety checks. The adjusted EBITDA dropped to £112.2m in 2022 from £153.5m in 2021.
Likewise, William Hill’s international business registered a 23% drop in net revenue, down to £212m in 2022 from £276m in 2021, due to regulatory measures and exit from the Netherlands market – as the unit’s EBITDA contribution slightly decreased to £33m in 2022 from £34m in 2021
Despite its online declines, William Hill’s Adjusted EBITDA increased to £214.8m in 2022 from £161.7m in 2021.
The group’s bottom-line results detailed exceptional items and adjustment losses of £148.7m in 2022, a significant increase from a loss of £99.4m in 2021, due to increased UK compliance costs and M&A legal provisions.
Yet, William Hill narrowed its operating loss from £65.5m in 2021 to £31m in 2022 due to reduced marketing expenses. Profit after tax showed a significant increase to £168.4m in 2022 from a loss of £58.9m in 2021, partly due to a one-off foreign exchange gain on financing items.
William Hill branded 2022 as a year of operating adjustments, as its business recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic but was challenged by the macroeconomic impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflationary pressures across European markets and new compliance changes in the UK.
