06-03-2007 William Hill may struggle in 2007

Credit Suisse said the lack of an event comparable to the soccer World Cup and increased competition for online betting may hamper growth.

In other news, the UK bookmaker ruled out a bid for gaming company Rank. William Hill's CEO David Harding said it was increasingly unlikely that multi-platform gaming would evolve in the next few years.

Ladbrokes replaced Group Finance Director Rosemary Thorne with Brian Wallace, the former Deputy Chief Executive and Group Finance Director of Hilton Group, effective immediately.

Patrick Kennedy, Chief Executive of Paddy Power, said the Irish bookmaker plans to use part of its cash to buy up to 10% of its outstanding shares. Kennedy said the company had looked at a lot of acquisition opportunities in recent years but had not found the right candidate. He also said the move did not mean the company had run out of expansion ideas.

Financial bookmaker ChoiceOdds.com has officially launched today. According to a company press release, ChoiceOdds provides both fixed odds and binary bets on the same online platform, with more financial markets available on its site than those of Ladbrokes, IG Index or Betfair.