William Hill loses £820m after government slashes FOBT stakes to £2

Shares plunge as bookmaker reveals £883m hit from crackdown on gambling machines

William Hill lost £819.6m before tax in the six months to 26 June, down from a £93.6m profit a year earlier (Rex)

British bookmaker William Hill has reported a loss which it blamed on government plans to cut maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to just £2.

The FTSE 250 company took exceptional charges of £916m, including an £883m hit from the decision on FOBTs. The addictive machines account for a large chunk of the UK gambling firm’s revenues.

William Hill lost £819.6m before tax in the six months to 26 June, down from a £93.6m profit a year earlier.

The news sent shares in the company down 7 per cent on Friday morning.

The company also outlined its progress it is making on expanding in the US where the Supreme Court recently paved the way for sports gambling which had been illegal in most of the country.

William Hill said it has signed deals with 11 casinos in Mississippi and one casino in West Virginia to run sports books and plans to take the first sports bet in Mississippi in August.

The company also said it would take a renewed approach to reducing the harm caused by gambling.

Chief executive Philip Bowcock said: “Fundamental to delivering over the long term will be our sustainability strategy, which marks a significant cultural change for the company.

“Gambling-related harm is a serious issue and it is important that we face up to this challenge.

“We have set ourselves the ambition that nobody is harmed by gambling and set out a detailed programme of actions as we start out on this journey.”

FOBTs, sometimes referred to as the crack cocaine of gambling, had come in for severe criticism because gamblers could lose thousands of pounds in a matter of minutes.

In Febraury, William Hill was fined £6.2m by the Gambling Commission for failure to protect consumers and prevent money laundering in its online operations.

Between November 2014 and August 2016 William Hill allowed ten customers to deposit large sums of money linked to criminal offences which resulted in gains for the company of around £1.2m.

Mr Bowcock also hailed the company’s performance and highlighted the opportunity presented by the US market.

“During the first half, our online business continued to deliver double-digit growth.

“In the US, we have moved quickly following the repeal of PASPA [Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992] as we grow into newly regulating states. We will continue to invest in the US to ensure we are well-placed to capture the substantial potential available to us.”