William Hill suffers worst losing week in 2 years as Premier League favourites win

Shares in bookie William Hill have dropped 4% after it said that all the top teams in the Premier League winning in mid-January produced its worst losing week for two years.

While punters were celebrating wins by Chelsea, Arsenal (against Manchester City), Manchester United, Tottenham, Southampton, West Ham and Stoke, William Hill was picking up a hefty tab.

“It was our worst losing week in a couple of years,” said chief executive James Henderson.

“Whilst inclusion of the loss-making week leaves us behind internal expectations for the first eight weeks, the board’s view is that this volatility in sporting results is now a normal part of the group’s trading. Therefore, the board remains confident in its expectations for 2015.”

Investors were more cautious, however, and William Hill shares fell 14.5p to 376p.

Broker Panmure Gordon cut its recommendation from buy to hold saying that the shares were “fairly valued” given further concerns about tax changes.

Henderson declined to comment on last month’s failed £720 million takeover of online gamer 888.com.

The bookmaker’s operating profits rose 11% to £372 million last year in line with analysts’ forecasts based on a strong World Cup and growth in mobile betting.

Profits from High Street shops fell by 2%.

The dividend rose by 5% to 12.2p a share.