Britain's biggest bookmaker, William Hill, said a run of high profile soccer upsets, buying Stanley Leisure's betting shops and customers gambling on roulette video game machines helped bump up its 2006 profits.
William Hill posted a 19% increase in 2006 core profits to £292.2m and said it was comfortable with analysts' average 2007 core profit forecast of £297m.
The bookmaker added that its gross win in the nine weeks to February 27 had increased by 11% and said its expansion plans in Spain and Italy, in conjunction with joint-venture partner Codere, were coming along.
Chief executive David Harding said the firm had set aside up to £10m to spend on Spanish and Italian expansion following recent relaxation of gambling laws in both countries.
William Hill owns 48 shops in the Republic but did not give a breakdown of their performance.
