William Hill to raise £350m in rights issue
Bookmaker William Hill is raising £350m in a rights issue and scrapping its 2008 dividend due to a "dramatic deterioration" in credit markets.
The fundraising is part of a wider plan to restructure the group’s £1.45bn of bank facilities, the majority of which comes up for renewal in March 2010.
William Hill, which has around 2,300 shops in the UK and Ireland, said current credit conditions made it impossible to refinance in full in the bank market. It said it hoped to emerge from the process with the flexibility to execute its growth strategy.
The news came as the firm said net revenues in the eight weeks to February 24 increased 9% and total gross win - the amount left by losing punters - rose by 2% on the same period in 2007.
Operating profits for the 52 weeks to December 30 were £278.6m, down 3% from the 53 weeks to January 1 2008.
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