Horse racing boosts William Hill

William Hill has seen a large growth in online betting

UK bookmaker William Hill has defied the recession by reporting an increase in revenues.

It said its net revenue rose by 6.5% in the 14 weeks to April compared to the same period last year.

William Hill said its results were boosted by favourable horse racing results, such as 100-1 outsider Mon Mome's shock win at the Grand National.

Revenues from its online betting business increased over 50%, mainly because of acquisitions.

The horse racing results in April made up for poor trading in March, when about a third of races were cancelled due to poor weather and customers beat the bookmaker at events such as Cheltenham.

Earlier this year, William Hill raised about £350m from its shareholders in its a rights issue, saying the freezing of the credit markets had made it impossible for it to refinance its debt as usual through bank loans.

William Hill has about 2,300 shops in the UK and Irish Republic.