William Hill boss Ralph Topping has detailed the company’s international expansion plans, confirming his intent to add Sportingbet’s Spanish Miapuesta business at the earliest opportunity.
Hill’s took an option on Sportingbet’s Spanish-facing Miapuesta business as part of March’s £459.4m acquisition of Sportingbet Australia. The bookie issued figures today showing Hill’s with a current market share of 10.7% and Miapuesta of 12.5% in the sports betting-led market which opened in June 2012.
Topping said: “The six-month option on Miapuesta comes up shortly. I’m not going to tell you the detailed plan, but there’s value to be had in that business. It’s the third largest by market share, so you should assume we will exercise. But we will update you on what it looks like at the right time. You should assume we will exercise.”
Topping also said in the company’s H1 earnings call this morning that it was taking a “long hard look at the brand approach” down under, where it currently operates under the Sportingbet and Centrebet banners.
“At the moment, we have got three brands on the table. Sportingbet, which I like, Centrebet, and of course we’ve got William Hill, which I also like. The Sportingbet and Centrebet brands are complementary, they hit different customer bases, different product mixes. But we’re not maximising that difference with our marketing or our CRM.
“We will look at a single market brand that we know will appeal to all segments, like William Hill does in the UK. We’ve had expert advice, we’re taking a good, hard stare at that, before we make our decision. It will be a decision driven by operators like [Sportingbet Australia CEO] Michael [Sullivan] and myself, marketing, and it will have to be sanctioned by the board. Some decisions on that will be made soon.”
Topping, who also serves as chairman of the Scottish Premier League, was bullish on the company’s prospects down under, joking that: “My hardest task this year was uniting Scottish football. Australia’s a doddle compared to that.”
The William Hill boss was speaking as his company released yet another set of strong metrics, with a 20% rise in group net revenues to £751.6m driven by yet another stellar online performance.
William Hill Online, of which the bookie recently regained full control after buying out JV partner Playtech’s 29% stake for £424m, increased revenues by 18% to £233.9m, with operating profit up 16% to £80.2m. This was however entirely driven by Hill’s online sportsbook, which increased NGR 44% to £116.0m, benefitting from growth of stakes and margin.
Gaming - consisting of casino, poker and bingo - remained flat at £117.9m, due to a series of market exits during 2012, including Greece under threat of sanctions in November 2012, and Spain, which did not include slots in the first wave of regulation in June 2012.
Article written by Stephen Carter
