Where do you think they will go to or should i sell now

StockMarketWire.com
Investec appears to be placing its bets on bookmaker William Hill (LON:WMH) after upgrading its recommendation to add from sell, seeing potential for a short-term rally.

The broker said: "We expect news of very strong current trading in the first 7 weeks of FY16 with the 26th February prelims. With full-year operating profit pre-announced (c.GBP290m) and no further updates to Project Trafalgar since the iOS transition, we see limited downside risk.

"Upside could come via a share buyback or special dividend given the strong balance sheet, lack of recent M&A and guided FY15 net debt/EBITDA of 1.3x."

Analysts have upped their target to 404 pence a share (from 346 pence), implying a forecast total return of 8.5 per cent.

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill confirms that over the weekend it received a highly preliminary approach from 888 and Rank regarding a potential combination of the three companies.

"The Consortium did not put forward a proposal or set out a position on price, timing, terms, form of consideration or transaction structure," William Hill said in a statement.

"The Board of William Hill would listen to and consider any proposal which might be forthcoming from the Consortium.

"However, it is not clear that a combination of William Hill with 888 and Rank will enhance William Hill's strategic positioning or deliver superior value to William Hill's strategy which is focused on increasing the Group's diversification by growing its digital and international businesses.

"As announced on Thursday, the Group will publish its half-year results for the 26 weeks to 28 June 2016 on Friday, 5 August.

"As a consequence of the announcement by the Consortium on 24 July 2016, William Hill is now considered to be in an "Offer Period" as defined by the Code. Accordingly, William Hill is required to suspend share buybacks."

FT.COM - A gaming consortium formed by Rank Group and 888 have submitted a takeover offer for their larger rival William Hill that potentially values the UK bookmaker at up to £3.6bn, reports Bryce Elder, Paul McClean and Arash Massoudi.

The Rank and 888 consortium is said to have submitted a formal offer for William Hill that values the shares at 364p apiece as well as setting out merger synergies that boost the value of the proposal to 408p a share, according to two people briefed on the plans. William Hill shares were trading at 324.9p in early trading on Tuesday, down 0.8 per cent.

A tie-up between 888, Rank and William Hill would create a company with revenues of £2.7bn and earnings of £500m, making it the third-largest online betting company by revenues.

Spokespersons for William Hill, 888 and Rank declined to comment.

Online bookie 888 confirmed last month that as part of a consortium with Rank Group, the owner of Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo, it was weighing up an offer for William Hill. The deal would mark a stark turn of events, after William Hill tried and failed to acquire 888 in a £700m deal last year.

The approach from 888 and Rank is driven by a desire to gain greater scale to help absorb the costs from tougher regulation and higher taxes. For William Hill, a merger with the two groups would give it much-needed access to 888’s online platforms and technological capabilities.

The merger would also boost its geographical diversity — 85 per cent of William Hill’s £1.5bn revenues are generated in the UK, while 888 is far less focused on the British market, with 54 per cent of its $462m revenues coming from outside the UK."

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill said it continues to believe that the bid proposal by 888 Holdings and The Rank Group is highly opportunistic and does not reflect the inherent value of the group.

Moreover, William Hill said the proposal presented significant risk for its shareholders as it involves a highly complicated three-way combination at a very low premium.

"There is substantial risk for William Hill shareholders in the achievement of the estimated future cost synergies, which are only expected to be achieved in full by the end of 2020," the company said.

"It (the proposal) would result in the combined group operating with substantially increased leverage of approximately £2.2 billion, carrying a much higher interest charge."

William Hill's chairman, Gareth Davis, said:
"The Board continues to see no merit in engaging on the basis of a proposal that substantially undervalues the Group.

"In addition, as we have said before this proposal is highly opportunistic, complex and poses significant risk for our shareholders."

William Hill has given 888 and Rank until 5pm on Aug. 21 to confirm a firm intention to make an offer, or that it does not.

Reuters - Casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group Plc (RNK.L) and online gambling company 888 Holdings Plc (888.L) ended efforts to take over rival British bookmaker William Hill Plc (WMH.L) days after a revised offer was rejected.

Rank and 888 had wanted to join up with William Hill to create Britain's largest multi-channel gambling operator by revenue and profit, with 92 percent of its business from regulated markets.

But the two companies said in a joint statement on Thursday they had not been able to meaningfully engage with William Hill's board and did not intend making an offer.

Gambling faces higher taxes and tighter regulation, and a series of mergers has intensified competition as firms market themselves to younger sports fans betting via mobile apps.

Rank and 888 had estimated that the three-way deal would result in savings of 100 million pounds a year from lower third-party fees and reduced IT spending.

However, William Hill spurned the consortium's initial 3.16 billion-pound cash-and-shares proposal, saying it substantially undervalued the business. It rejected a revised takeover proposal on Monday, saying it continued to see no merit in engaging with the consortium.

Britain's biggest bookmaker at the start of 2015, William Hill is set to lose its leading market position in the gambling sector as rival Ladbrokes Plc (LAD.L) overtakes it in number of betting shops when it merges with Gala Coral later this year.

William Hill was quick to embrace Britons' changing gambling habits, such as placing bets online using smartphones and tablets, often "in play" while watching sport like soccer on TV, but its lead has vanished as its apps failed to retain punters.

The company sacked its chief executive in July and earlier this month reported a 16 percent fall in first-half operating profit.

Liberum comment on the proposed merger:
"(WMH LN) Last night the largest shareholder (14.3%) in William Hill – Parvus – published an open letter in which it comprehensively rejected the potential merger with Amaya as 1. It makes no strategic sense to them (cross-sell into Poker is very difficult), 2. Valuation – Parvus estimate that Hills is paying a c.50% EV/EBITDA premium for Amaya and that Hills’ current ‘fair value’ is c.30% above the current share price 3. The level of leverage is too great to the effect that the deal would leave the Group with £2.8bn of proforma net debt – far higher than the previous bid from 888/Rank which Parvus may have supported.

Against this backdrop it is hard to see how the deal can progress although Hills’ Board are only at early stage of DD discussions with Amaya and will almost certainly want to continue these to see if they could eventually recommend a deal.

What is clear is that Parvus have hung up the ‘For Sale’ sign at Hills and the Company remains ‘in play’.

In our view £100m of synergies with any potential partner pushes the share price towards 400p or beyond if a bid premium materialises."

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill said that, after canvassing views from several major shareholders, its directors have decided the company will not pursue merger discussions with Amaya.

"Accordingly, the Board has informed Amaya that it is withdrawing from discussions and wishes Amaya well for the future," William Hill said in a statement.

"The Group has continued to focus on the four priorities set out by Interim CEO Philip Bowcock - online, technology, efficiencies and international - to deliver value for shareholders and will also continue to consider strategic alternatives where they have the potential to create shareholder value.

"Trading has continued to be positive in the second half of the year with work focused on improving Online performance across mobile gaming and key customer journeys.

"The Board continues to expect operating profit for 2016 to be at the top end of the previously guided £260-280m range.

"The share buy-back programme William Hill announced on 26 February 2016 has been suspended since 23 July 2016. We will now recommence the share buy-back programme."

Wm Hill upbeat

StockMarketWire.com

William Hill said it continues to expect FY operating profit1 to be at the top end of the previous �260-280m guidance, subject to normalised gross win margins in the rest of the year.

In a trading statement for the 17 weeks ended October 25, it said online has returned to growth with UK Sportsbook amounts wagered +4% in H2 following mobile Sportsbook enhancements in Q2; H2 focused on improvements to gaming, UX and marketing.

The roll-out of 2000 proprietary self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) has been completed in Retail, and organisational structure changes on track for implementation from 1 January 2017.

William Hill said the positive performance was continuing in international markets with double-digit wagering and net revenue growth in H2 to date in Australia, the US and Italy and Spain.

There were opportunities for about �30m of group operating efficiencies identified for delivery in 2017, with about �15m of digital marketing spend already identified to be used to drive faster digital net revenue growth.

"In this period we have continued to focus on Online's turnaround, identifying efficiencies and international growth," said CEO Philip Bowcock in a statement.

"Online has returned to wagering growth in the UK following significant enhancements to our mobile Sportsbook in Q2 and we are making good progress on the gaming and user experience improvements in H2, further helped by the Grand Parade team we acquired in August. We will complete the heavy lifting on Online's changes in Q1.

"Our international businesses are all performing well, with double-digit wagering and net revenue growth in each of our key markets of Australia, the US and Italy and Spain. In a tough market, the Australian business is benefiting from our in-house technology, which allows us to bring customers innovative new products more frequently than our competitors.

"Looking forward, we remain on track to deliver 2016 operating profit at the top end of our guided range. With our significantly improved products and user experience, we are confident that this is the right time to invest further in our Online business.

"Therefore, the marketing efficiencies we are announcing today will be reinvested in driving faster digital growth to benefit future performance."

Separately, the company confirmed it will, in early 2017, appoint John O'Reilly, Robin Terrell and Mark Brooker as non-executive directors.

Big drop here today .


Transaction in Own Shares

William Hill PLC ("William Hill") announces that it has purchased the following William Hill Ordinary Shares of 10 pence each from its corporate broker Citigroup Global Markets Limited ("Citi") today:

Number of Ordinary Shares acquired
430,000
Average price paid per Ordinary Share
£3.069657
Highest price paid per Ordinary Share
£3.1280
Lowest price paid per Ordinary Share
£2.9990
Date and timing of transactions
7 December 2016; 08.00 - 16.35
Trading venue
London Stock Exchange; BATS; Chi-X; Turquoise
Company ISIN
GB0031698896

The purchased shares will be held as treasury shares.

Following the above purchase, William Hill holds 24,894,375 Ordinary Shares in treasury and has 862,346,393 Ordinary Shares in issue (excluding treasury shares).

In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation), a schedule of individual trades by Citi is available using the following link:

Confirms what a waste of money buybacks can be.
2517

A cross-party group of MPs will today demand stricter controls on betting machines that allow punters to lose £300 a minute on casino games.
The fixed odds betting terminals all-party parliamentary group will publish the findings of a six-month inquiry into the machines.

Its report says that there is a “prima facie” case to cut the maximum stake of £100 a spin. It also urges ministers to slow the speed with which punters can make bets from once every 20 seconds. The report is significant because it is supported by MPs from all the main parties, including the senior Conservative backbencher Sir Peter Bottomley.

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill said the group's FY operating profit for 2016 is about £260m, at the bottom end of its guided £260-£280m range.

In the nine weeks since the trading statement on 14 November 2016, wagering trends continued in line with those previously reported.

"However, gross win margins were below expectations, in large part due to unfavourable football and horseracing results impacting the sector during December," the company said in a statement.

Interim CEO Philip Bowcock commented:
"Importantly, the improvements we saw in wagering in Online and Australia in the second half have continued in recent weeks.

"However, all four divisions saw customer-friendly results at the back end of the year, which translated into profits being about £20m below our prior expectations.

"With key underlying trends continuing to be positive, the recent run of sporting results have not changed our confidence in a better performance in 2017."

Well above average turnover today.
2517

Looks like the FOBT are due to be regulated again, which is going to hit the bookies profits.

"The Fixed Odds Betting Terminal APPG will today launch the findings of their six month Inquiry “Fixed Odds Betting Assessing the Impact” which has taken in-depth evidence into the impact of FOBT machines in communities across the UK.

The Inquiry was launched following growing disquiet among politicians about the harm being caused on Britain’s High Streets by the high stake machines, which can be played with little supervision in any betting shop.

Concern has grown that the machines are both highly addictive and an anomaly in the regulatory framework, and offer high stakes casino style gambling with punters at risk of losing £100 every 20 seconds.

The findings of the report include
*That there is now a ‘prima facie’ case for significantly reducing the maximum stake that can be wagered on a FOBT
*At the very least the stake should be reduced on a precautionary basis, in line with the principles which govern the work of the Gambling Commission, until sufficient evidence is presented to the Government that the high stakes on these machines do not cause harm
*That the Gambling Commission “have failed” to adequately advise the Government in recent years, despite the principles for regulation and licencing under which the Gambling Commission operates
*That there is a case for the maximum stake to be reduced to £2
*Government should also consider reducing the speed of spin on a FOBT in order to reduce the potential for harm to be caused and also review the number of FOBTs permitted in an individual bookmaker
*Government should address localism concerns and calls for greater controls over FOBTs at the local level. Powers should be given to local authorities to prevent the clustering of betting shops.
The FOBT APPG, chaired by Carolyn Harris MP, took evidence from, among others, academics, problem gamblers, campaign groups, local authorities, industry experts, Gambling Minister Tracey Crouch, Sarah Harrison, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, Chris Kelly, Chair of the Responsible Strategy Gambling Board, Kate Lampard, Chair of Gamble Aware.

The bookies refused to take part in the Inquiry, which Ms Crouch said she was ‘surprised’ to hear."

The bookies response:

http://news.sky.com/story/fixed-odds-betting-terminals-report-is-rigged-say-bookmakers-10749628

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill has turned in a broadly steady FY pretax profit and dividend amid what it penned as a challenging year, particularly in H1.

Pretax profit was £181.3m, from £184.7m. Revenue was £1.60bn, from £1.59bn. Dividend was steady at 12.5p a share.

The company said its performance was below directors' expectations at the start of the year.

"However, we made a number of strategic and leadership changes to address this and ultimately delivered a full-year profit within the range of our revised expectations," it said.

"These changes continue to bear fruit, with strong indications that Online is returning to sustained growth."

Interim CEO Philip Bowcock said 2016 was a challenging year for William Hill, but one in which the company made considerable operational progress, leaving it well-placed to drive the business forward in 2017.

"We have delivered extensive product, user experience and marketing improvements in Online, modernised our Retail management structure to focus more on the customer and continued to grow in our key international markets," he said in a statement.

There were now encouraging signs in all of William Hill's divisions, in particular Online's UK business, which was now delivering sustained growth.

LOOKING FORWARD
Bowcock said William Hill wanted to keep improving the customer experience by expanding its product range, increasing marketing investment and deploying technology assets and expertise in key areas.

"At the same time, we expect our transformation programme to continue delivering important efficiency savings that we can reinvest to deliver an even better customer experience and faster growth," he said.

StockMarketWire.com
Wm Hill has made a positive start to the year, across the board, and at thi stage is in line with expectations for 2017.

"Our Online business continues to deliver growth thanks to the improvements in product, user experience and marketing we have made," said CEO Philip Bowcock.

"Retail is also seeing positive trends while our key international markets continue to perform well with double-digit wagering growth."

Bowcock said the company's transformation programme was progressing well and it was on track to deliver £40m of annualised savings by the year-end.

"Overall, we are in line with market expectations for 2017 at this early stage in the year."

Wm Hill said its total net revenue for the 17 weeks to April 25 was up 9%, with gains in online (up 16%), retail (1%), Australia (41%) and US (19%).

Seems to be falling over a cliff around the 250p mark

Looks overdone unless some clients had it away at Ascot!!!

Looking at the state of some of the women, I'm sure they did!....I'll get my coat.