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

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill confirmed that it is in "very preliminary: discussions with CrownBet, the 62%-owned online wagering business of Australia's Crown Resorts, regarding a possible combination with William Hill Australia.

The admission came in response to media speculation.

"There is no certainty that these preliminary discussions will lead to any transaction," William Hill said.

Big drop for all the bookies as the maximum bet for fixed odds betting machines is rumoured to be a mandatory £2.

Someone back a winner!!!!

Whats the story here?

Seems the £2 max bet on FOBM's is set to become reality. Sp down 13%,

I suppose the punters who use "FIXED odds betting terminals". Clue is in the title.

Will just have to spend longer at the machine to lose the same amount.

CBS News
"The rush for legal sports betting is on, and gamblers around the U.S. have New Jersey to thank for what experts think will be an onslaught of action.

Monday's Supreme Court's ruling strikes down a 1992 federal law barring gambling on football, basketball and other sports in most states. Within minutes of the decision becoming public, state governments and companies announced plans to jump into the betting business."

StockMarketWire.com
Annualised adjusted operating profit in William Hill's retail division could be reduced by £70m to £100m as a result of a decision by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to reduce the maximum stake on B2 games from £100 to £2.

In the first four months of the current financial year, around 70% of William Hill's total gaming machine net revenue was generated by stakes in excess of the proposed £2 threshold.

The annualised impact of a £2 staking limit could be a reduction in total gaming net revenue of 35% to 45%.

The stake limit could result in around 900 William Hill shops (38% of its existing Retail estate) becoming loss-making. A proportion of these would be at risk of being closed within a relatively short time of the proposed staking change being implemented.

The board's current intention is to retain the existing dividend policy to pay out approximately 50% of underlying earnings.

Philip Bowcock, chief executive officer, said: "William Hill has a long and proud heritage as part of the UK high street and we know how important betting shops are to our customers and their local economies. The government has handed us a tough challenge today and it will take some time for the full impact to be understood, for our business, the wider high street and key partners like horseracing. We will continue to evolve our Retail business in order to adapt to this change and we will support our colleagues as best we can. Despite the challenges presented by this decision, our teams will compete hard and offer great service to William Hill customers."

StockMarketWire.com
Gambling group William Hill swung to a deep first-half loss after it wrote down the value of its assets to account for a looming UK regulatory crackdown.

Pre-tax losses for the six months through June amounted to £819.6m compared to a £93.1m profit on-year, and included a £882.8m non-cash impairment charge.

The UK government recently announced that it would slash the maximum bet allowed on fixed-rate betting terminals to £2 from £100 from 2020.

On an underlying basis, William Hill's adjusted pre-tax profit fell 13% to £96.3m, even as revenue rose 3% to £802.6m.

Adjusted operating profit from existing operations, which excluded US states in which the company had recently expanded, rose 1% to £130.8m.

'William Hill has performed well during the first half of 2018 and, following major regulatory decisions in the UK and US, we now have greater clarity over the challenges and opportunities that lie before us,' chief executive Philip Bowcock said.

The US Supreme Court in May legalised sports betting across the company and William Hill has already started growing revenue rapidly in that market, though established costs have weighed on profits there.

William Hill said it had a 'good' World Cup, recording more than a million active users across the tournament

William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) announces that on Tuesday, 6 November 2018, the Group will announce a trading update for the unaudited 17-week period ended 23 October 2018. A conference call for the trading update will be held at 8.30am GMT on the day

Approaching 10 year low!

StockMarketWire.com
William Hill said it had agreed to acquire Sweden-based online gambling group Mr Green & Co for around SEK 2,819 million (£241.8m).

The UK gambling group had offered SEK 69 in cash per Mr Green share, representing a 48.5% premium to their closing price on Tuesday.

Mr Green's board had recommended its shareholders accept the bid.

'This proposed acquisition accelerates the diversification of William Hill - immediately making us a more digital and more international business,' chief executive Philip Bowcock said.

'Mr Green will provide William Hill with an international hub in Malta with market entry expertise and strong growth momentum in a number of European countries.'

'William Hill will move from a single brand to a suite of brands that can maximise growth opportunities moving forward in new and existing markets.'

Credit Suisse today reaffirms its outperform investment rating on William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) and raised its price target to 275p (from 260p).

Barclays Capital today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) and raised its price target to 304p (from 300p).

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its add investment rating on William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) and cut its price target to 250p (from 305p).

UBS today upgrades its investment rating on William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) to buy (from neutral) and cut its price target to 300p (from 330p).

StockMarketWire.com
Gambling company William Hill warned on profits after it was hurt by weak horseracing margins, customer-friendly football results and challenging conditions on the high street.

Full-year operating profit was expected to come in at between £225m to £245m, assuming normalised gross win margins in the remaining weeks of the year.

William Hill said it had benefited from the later stages of the World Cup, but otherwise football and racing margins had been weaker than expected.

'Retail continues to be challenged by the wider high street conditions and we have seen gaming as well as sportsbook revenues decline in the period,' the company said.

Online net revenue in the year-to-date rose 4%, but retail net revenue fell 4%.

The company's existing US business delivered 'strong' growth in Nevada, with net revenue up 36% in local currency.

As for its US expansion, William Hill said it generated 'good' volumes in early months, with around $200m wagered, in line with its expectations.

Chief executive Philip Bowcock said adverse regulatory and tax changes would impact online profit growth in 2018 and 2019.

The gross effect of these would reduce profit by £20m in 2018 and a further £25m in 2019.

'We are continuing to experience a period of significant change for our industry and have already made important changes over the last two years to transform our digital business, broaden the management team and enhance our financial flexibility ahead of key regulatory changes,' Bowcock said.

I think those customer friendly football results refer to Cardiff losing every week.

And the World Cup was hardly customer friendly , with Brazil , Spain and Germany all doing badly.

Most of the group stages were pretty easy to predict in the World Cup.

225M Profit aint too shabby.

Morgan Stanley today upgrades its investment rating on William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) to overweight (from equal weight) and cut its price target to 280p (from 290p).

Approaching 10 year low!