William Hill heading to a fall down under

According to recent reports and financial data, William Hill’s Australian business is not doing well.

Australia.- UBS analyst Chris Stevens reported that the final numbers for 2015 show that William Hill had lost significant market share since its 2013 acquisitions. From that year until the end of last year, the company had gone from a customer based market share of 34 percent down to 12percent. That represents an alarming loss of more than 60 percent of its customers. In addition, revenue showed net growth of zero over that same time period.

Furthermore, the bookmaker’s numbers reflect significant weakness despite the fact the overall sports betting industry in Australia showed 15 percent year over year annual growth from the end of 2013 to the end of 2015.

Now even though the management’s claims that there has been marked improvement in William Hill’s numbers during the first four months of 2016, the general perception is that the company has made some serious mistakes jumping into a marketplace it didn’t understand.

The main problem seems to be the company’s inability to respond to the number and quality of promotions being offered by the likes of a bookmaking operation like Ladbrokes Australia. Another issue seems to be is related to the local sports betting market. Whilst most Australians lean heavily in favour of their local sports like rugby and Australian Rules Football, William Hill continues to try to push local punters more towards sports like darts, boxing and European football.