Britain's second biggest betting shop chain William Hill has warned that growth in its winnings slipped in July and August as customers enjoyed a lucky streak on horse races.
The group, which runs around 1,600 UK betting shops and offers telephone and online gambling, today recorded a near 40% in half-year profits, boosted by bumper winnings on football's Euro 2004 competition.
Shares in the company fell by 4% to 521p in London this morning. The shares have been a star performer since they were floated at 225p in June 2002.
Chief executive David Harding said UK horse racing meetings at Goodwood and York in the summer months were bad for betting shops as more favourites won their races. The group said its gross win rose 18% in the first half of 2004 due to good results for it from the Cheltenham race meeting and Greece being the surprise winner of Euro 2004.
But in the eight weeks to August 24 the gross win was up just 8% as UK horse racing results turned less favourable to bookmakers.
The group, which recently joined London's FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip stocks, reported pre-tax profits of £118.4m for the 26 weeks to June 29, just ahead of forecasts.
