William Hill Loses Millions By Grand National Decision - 05-01-08

May 1 - William Hill's Chief Executive has described as 'an absolute stinker' the events during the Grand National horse races earlier this month, which led to the company losing $14 million in one sweep.

A public gamble at the Grand National resulted in the company stifling growth for the first quarter of the year, despite excellent results through all its other operations.

During the Grand National,William Hill layed the horse that would eventually take the title, Comply or Die, from odds of eleven to one, to seven to one as a co-favorite on the day that the race took place.

The decision was devastating for the gambling company after the nine year old horse won the race, and resulted in an immediate loss of $14 million. William Hill reported that this was the biggest single loss during the first four months of 2008.

Ralph Topping, CEO for William Hill described the events of the day: "I watched the events with my Trading Director and I have never seen a man more nervous. He was down on his knees."

Growth for over the counter gross wins was restricted to only 3 percent because of the big loss at the Grand National, although all other areas of operation produced favorable results across the board.

Speaking about fears of a government crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals, Todding dismissed the rumors, as well as news that a consumer slowdown was having negative effects on the local UK gambling industry. He showed that William Hill's 2250 betting shops across the country had extended their operating hours and had generated a 7 percent growth in gross wins for the period. Machine income rose 16 percent, thanks in part to the introduction of new games such as blackjack.

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