Britain's largest bookmaker William Hill posted a 12 per cent fall in first-half operating profit, weighed down by increased machine games duty and a new tax on bets made online by its UK-based customers.

The group, which has around 2,300 UK shops and operations online, in Australia, the US and Europe, said on Friday its operating profit was £155.7 million for the 26-weeks to June 30th, down from £176.9 million a year earlier.

Group revenue was almost flat at £808.1 million, with online growth of 7 per cent.

In a separate statement, William Hill said it had acquired 29.4 per cent of NeoGames, an online lottery software and services provider, for $25 million.

Reuters