Winning favourites knock Hilton

TOO many favourites romping home in the first four months of the year at its Ladbrokes betting shops saw Hilton's profits knocked back.

Group profits in the first third of this year were down 4%. For the first time since 9/11, the hotels business is performing strongly while the betting and gaming division takes a back seat.

International and London Hilton hotels turned in much stronger results. More rooms are being occupied and the key industry measure of revenue per available room (revpar) is up by between 6% and 14% in owned and managed sites.

The group singled out for praise its Scandinavian properties, where there was a 9% rise in revpar, and said it is looking forward to the re-opening of the Hilton Sydney in mid July. The only duff note was in UK provincial hotels which showed a decline in revpar after a very weak January.

On the gambling side, the total gross win for Ladbrokes was very much in line with last year but costs rose 8.1%. The telephone betting arm's gross win fell 8% despite the fact it attracted more high rollers.

Following the recent £500m takeover of Stanley Leisure's 600 betting shops by William Hill, Hilton said it also expects to buy more bookies shortly.

For the rest of the year, the group is confident the betting and gaming side will recover its poise with margins picking up.