Industry market analysts are weary of FTSE listed operator stock performance, taking the position that ‘punter friendly’ sporting results, rising costs and a tough 2016 comparable period, will have hindered all-round Q2 trading.
As FTSE-listed bookmakers prepare to announce their full H1 trading results this coming July and August. City analysts have placed a gloomy forecast for industry H2 performance, detailing that unfavourable sporting results in April and May will have likely impacted, William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral Group and Paddy Power Betfair.
This week, trading houses Investec and Numis have slashed ratings and dropped target prices on William Hill, detailing that they expect the operator gross win margins to be significantly lower for the final two months of H1 2017.
City analysts are further glum on whether industry FTSE-listed operators can recover their performance during the second half of 2017, as this summer holds no major football tournament to boost operator markets and punter incentives.
Following a year of mass industry consolidation, in which the betting sector witnessed the merger of giant enterprises Ladbrokes-Coral and Paddy Power Betfair, 2017 has been marked as a ‘year of sector-wide readjustment’ for all stakeholders.
