Analyst considers William Hill online situation

With the friction and worker actions involving William Hill Online still rumbling on in Tel Aviv, Manila and Bulgaria, London brokers Numis Securities issued a note Friday giving their take on the situation, at the same time adding to William Hill’s falling share price woes by reducing their “hold” recommendation to “reduce.”
The note points out that the core of the online marketing team in Israel appears to have walked out, and opines: “If they don’t come back it will, in our view, have a material negative impact on the growth of William Hill Online.
“This dispute highlights a weakness in the deal which established WHO. The staff which create the greater part of the value are highly mobile and have loyalties to each other, rather than to William Hill.
“We have always been concerned that WHO would suffer staff defections after William Hill had bought out Playtech. Even if the current situation is quickly resolved we believe it serves to highlight the uncertain future for WHO.”

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