BOOKMAKER William Hill said yesterday that sporting results had turned in its favour after weaker returns earlier this year caused profits to fall 6%.
The group, which is neck-and-neck with Ladbrokes as the UK's biggest bookie, said profits before exceptional items fell to £123.9m in the six months to June 28, from £132.5m last time.
That was after a string of results went in favour of gamblers and the company faced strong comparatives from the Euro 2004 football championships.
But William Hill, which recently expanded its estate with the acquisition of sites from Liverpool-based rival Stanley Leisure, said there were signs of improvement in recent weeks, with gross win - the amount left behind by unsuccessful punters - up 5.5% in the nine weeks to August 30, compared with a 0.3% rise in the first half.
It also said the public's appetite for poker had boosted business at its online arm - leading to a 151%% increase in income from poker during the first half of its financial year.
Chief executive David Harding said poker and casino were the fastest-growing part of the business, helped by the large amount of marketing and publicity surrounding the industry.
Gross win within the interactive arm increased by 17%, as it also benefited from a solid performance from its casino operation.
William Hill said the integration of 624 Stanley shops was under way and on track to achieve expected cost savings. It was recently ordered by the Office of Fair Trading to offload around 50 of the sites.
The company also unveiled plans to return £200m to £300m to shareholders over the next 18 months and said it was increasing its interim dividend by 11% to 6.1p a share.
Chairman Charles Scott said: "We remain confident about the group's future prospects and are committed to returning value to shareholders."
At the end of the first half of the year, William Hill had 2,182 betting offices in the UK and 52 in the Republic of Ireland.
The group announced on Friday that more than 750 staff shared a £9m windfall this month. Staff who bought shares three years ago have trebled their money.
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