TIDMWMH
RNS Number : 3238G
William Hill PLC
16 March 2020
William Hill PLC
COVID-19 update; dividend suspended
16 March 2020
William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) (William Hill or the Group), one of
the world's leading betting and gaming companies, provides the
following update on the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
In light of the ongoing uncertainty created by COVID-19 and
following recent developments to postpone or cancel sporting events
and close US casinos, we anticipate a material impact to the
Group's revenue and earnings in 2020. 53% of our 2019 revenue was
generated through our sports book business.
While it is too soon to accurately determine the effect of
COVID-19 we have considered a number of possible outcomes
including, but not limited to; UK and International football
resuming in August, the cancellation or postponement until 2021 of
the UEFA European Football Championship, UK retail shop closures
for one month, the cancellation of the Grand National and Royal
Ascot and US sports resuming in time for the new NFL season in
September.
If the outcomes outlined above transpire, EBITDA for the Group
is expected to reduce by GBP100m to GBP110m. Currently horse racing
and our retail shops remain open. An additional month of closure
impacts EBITDA by GBP25m to GBP30m.
Under the present circumstances the Board has determined that it
is appropriate to focus on retaining resources within the Group and
is suspending the dividend until further notice. The 2019 final
dividend will therefore not be proposed at the AGM scheduled to be
held on 15 May 2020. The Group has a robust financial position and
has appropriate liquidity to absorb the impacts of the scenario
outlined above. We have an undrawn committed revolving credit
facility of GBP425m and we are working closely with our banking
partners to enhance our liquidity position.
There are a number of mitigating activities available to us to
reduce our variable cost base and manage our cash flows efficiently
and those actions are underway. We have implemented a number of
measures to ensure normal operations, invoking our business
continuity plans where appropriate. In addition, large parts of the
Group continue to operate on a 'business as usual' basis, albeit
while working from home.
Prior to the recent cessation of sporting events, trading in the
quarter was ahead of our expectations, driven by favourable
sporting results and a strong retail performance. We remain focused
on maintaining a ready state to ensure that William Hill can resume
full operations as soon as the sporting calendar recovers.
Ulrik Bengtsson, CEO, commented:
"These are truly unprecedented times but William Hill has been
around for 86 years and over that time we have gained huge
experience and understanding of our customers. People want to place
sports bets and they will continue to do so where possible. In
recent days we have seen betting on horses, greyhounds,
international football and our well-stablished virtual sports.
"We are taking action to maintain our operational capability, to
secure and enhance our liquidity and to ensure we are in a strong
position to resume full operations when the sporting calendar
returns to normal.
"We have been quick to initiate our business continuity plans,
which have been in place for some weeks, with our colleague's and
customer's welfare highest on the agenda. Large parts of the
business continue to operate on a 'business as usual' basis."
OAM: Inside information
William Hill LEI: 213800MDW41W5UZQIX82
Enquiries
===================================================================================
William Hill Louise Turner-Smith, Director of Tel: +44 (0) 20 7612
Investor Relations 3251
Tony Kenny, Head of External Communications Tel: +44 (0) 7714
138698
Brunswick Andrew Porter / Samantha Chiene Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404
5959
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2016. The
person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement
on behalf of William Hill PLC is Balbir Kelly-Bisla, Company
Secretary.
About William Hill
=====================================================================================
William Hill PLC is one of the world's leading betting and
gaming companies, employing c12,000 people. Its origins are in the
UK where it was founded in 1934, and where it is listed on the
London Stock Exchange. The majority of its GBP1.6bn annual revenues
are still derived from the UK, where it has a national presence of
licensed betting offices and one of the leading online betting and
gaming services. William Hill's European Online business is
headquartered in Gibraltar and Malta, and is licensed online in 12
countries following the acquisition of Mr Green & Co AB in
January 2019. In 2012, it established William Hill US with a focus
on retail and mobile operations in Nevada and became the largest
sports betting business in the US. Following the ruling in May 2018
by the Supreme Court that the federal ban on state sponsored sports
betting was unconstitutional, William Hill US has expanded and
continues to expand as new states regulate sports betting. It is
now operating in nine states: Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi,
Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Eldorado Resorts, Inc. currently owns shares representing 20% of
the share capital of William Hill US Holdco, Inc., the holding
company of William Hill US.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements
=====================================================
This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed
to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates",
"anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "goal", "target",
"aim", "may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each
case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology.
These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not
historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout
these results and the information incorporated by reference into
these results and include statements regarding the intentions,
beliefs or current expectations of the directors, William Hill or
the Group concerning, amongst other things, the results of
operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth,
strategies and dividend policy of William Hill and the industry in
which it operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and
depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and
may be beyond William Hill's ability to control or predict.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance. The Group's actual results of operations, financial
condition, liquidity, dividend policy and the development of the
industry in which it operates may differ materially from the
impression created by the forward-looking statements contained in
these results and/or the information incorporated by reference into
these results. In addition, even if the results of operations,
financial condition, liquidity and dividend policy of the Group and
the development of the industry in which it operates, are
consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in these
results and/or the information incorporated by reference into these
results, those results or developments may not be indicative of
results or developments in subsequent periods. Other than in
accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations ( including
under the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014), the Listing Rules,
the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the Prospectus
Rules ), William Hill does not undertake any obligation to update
or revise publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
MSCUNAVRRAUOAAR
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March 16, 2020 11:23 ET (15:23 GMT)
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