Bookmaker William Hill has raced up more than 3% after a profits surge boosted by its mobile application.
In one week the company booked £11m of mobile turnover, thanks to its Sportsbook app now being available in the Apple store. Chief executive Ralph Topping said:
[The app has given us] access to thousands of new customers who have never bet with William Hill before, highlighting the growth potential of these new channels and their importance to our multi-channel offering.
In fact, the mobile app has been downloaded 190,000 times from the Apple store so far, with 30% of the customers being new to William Hill. It has also expanded its mobile offering with a bingo launch.
So first quarter revenues rose 12% and operating profit was 19% higher. The shares have climbed 9p to 275.8p, making it one of the biggest risers in the FTSE 250. Simon French at Panmure Gordon said:
William Hill has reported a better than expected first quarter performance. Online was the star performer with profit up 29%. Retail profit is up 8% helped by an impressive gross win margin of 19.4%. The group remains confident of meeting full year expectations of £296m EBITA. The stock is inexpensive on a 2012 estimated PE of 10.5 times... and yields 3.8%. We reiterate our buy recommendation and 280p target price.
