Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian announced a profit of £2.3M ($3M) and a rising turnover of £1.3M ($1.7M) -- even though it spent £6.9M ($9.1M) on redeveloping Tynecastle Park. The club's annual accounts also revealed a "mystery benefactor bankrolled" it "to the tune of" £2.5M ($3.3M) (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 11/20).
Scottish Premiership side Hibernian recorded a loss of £277,000 last season, its annual accounts revealed. The side won the Scottish Championship and reached the Scottish Cup semifinals but "could not break even" in the 12 months to June 30. However, the club announced its highest turnover figures since '13 at £7.7M, while its cash balances were up £1M to £3.5M at the end of the year "after a boost in season ticket sales" (DAILY RECORD, 11/20).
Racing Victoria recorded a total profit for the financial year of A$9.2M ($6.9M) -- a "hefty drop" on the A$28M recorded a year earlier. However, RV's management said that the headline figure "masks" what it described as a "trend of positive results" in recent years and that '16-17 showed "healthy growth in revenue, wagering, prize money and participation." The "hefty downturn" in profit was reportedly due to "increased investment" in prize money, media rights aggregation and club funding (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/20).
Online revenues at bookmaker William Hill are "more than offsetting a decline in wagers being made in its high street shops" as the betting industry prepares for an "anticipated crackdown" on fixed-odds betting terminals. The company's online revenues climbed 6% in the 17 weeks to Oct. 21, following a 13% increase in the amount wagered, pushing its total group revenues up 4%. CEO Philip Bowcock said that William Hill "was on track to meet market expectations for the year" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/20).
