William Hill finding the going a bit heavy

LONDON (ShareCast) - William Hill (Other OTC: WIMHF.PK - news) , the betting firm, has seen a dramatic fall in profits in the third quarter compared to the same period of 2010, but said it remains on track to hit full-year expectations. Group operating profit in the three months to the end of September was down 22%, leaving the firm 3% lower over the year-to-date. The management blames this on 2010 having been a World Cup year. Certainly other metrics are better, with net revenues up 2% on the quarter, including a strong online performance where revenues grew by 28%. William Hill certainly has plenty in its in-tray. The firm is in discussions about a possible take over of the online gaming firm Probability (LSE: PBTY.L - news) and must make a decision on a possible offer by the 14th of November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) . Incoming (OTC BB: ICNN.OB - news) flak also includes proposed changes to the UK licensing system and discussions over a Nevada Gaming Commission Licence which would allow William Hill to enter the Vegas market. The company also reportedly suffered a mass walk-out by online support centre staff based in Tel Aviv earlier this month, though there was no mention of this in the trading update. The Chief Executive of William Hill, Ralph Topping has defended the third quarter numbers robustly, commenting: "The Q3 margin is broadly in line with our long-term average for this quarter but is below the unusually high margin seen in Q3 2010, driven up by football results. Accordingly, group profits are lower year-on-year, primarily as a result of this and the planned significant increase in Online investment." Investors seemed to be accepting Topping's arguments in early trading. At 8.35 UK time William Hill's share price was up 1.73%. BS