Betting Tax too much for William Hill

We reported in June that William Hill was rumoured to be moving some of its remaining operations offshore and it now seems that it might be more than just rumour and they might not be alone.

William Hill is due to announce interim results on Tuesday and with Chief Executive Ralph Topping having already expressed his reluctance to pay 15% betting tax whilst other companies such as Paddy Power are only paying one tenth of that, an announcement is expected. The company already has its online casino business based in Gibraltar and the announcement is expected to confirm the move of the sports and phone betting divisions.

Ladbrokes who have a Board meeting on Wednesday and report interim results on Thursday are believed to be keen to stay in the UK but may have to react to any move by the competition. Moving sports operations, which includes horse racing, offshore would have a very negative effect on the racing industry through lost levies as well as costing the Treasury millions in lost tax.

Analysts expect William Hill to report pre tax profits up and Ladbrokes to be fairly steady.