Wagering giant William Hill says its Australian unit has suffered a 20 per cent fall in full-year net revenue, a result that piles pressure on local boss Tom Waterhouse to turn around its operations. 
William Hill, headed in Australia by Mr Waterhouse, said its unaudited full-year net revenue in 2015 for Australia fell 20 per cent to Â£97.9 million ($202.8 million) from Â£121.9 million. The betting firm said it saw single-digit growth in turnover by the end of the year in local currency terms.
William Hill, which is one Britain's biggest wagering operators, spent $700 million establishing a presence in Australia through the purchase of TomWaterhouse.com and Sportingbet, which owned Centrebet.
But the bookmaker has lagged behind the growth rates of its Irish rival, Paddy Power's Sportsbet, and Tabcorp's online operations, while also facing pressure from Tatts Group's Ubet, fellow British rival Ladbrokes and the James Packer-backed CrownBet.
William Hill chief executive James Henderson said he expects Australia's single-digit growth of the last quarter to improve to double-digit returns in 2016.
William Hill Australia said it was a challenging year, but it expects an improvement in 2016.
"2015 was a period of resetting the business, but that hard work is now significantly paying off," a spokesman said.
"We are only a few weeks into 2016, but the momentum of the business has very much changed and our clients are now seeing the full benefit of faster, easier betting through innovations such as in-play and our global trading platform."
Irish broker Davy Research said investors will expect a pick-up in market share from its Australian operations.
"We think that for the stock to re-rate from here, the market will want to see a re-acceleration of online growth in Europe and for market share losses in Australia to cease," the broker said on Thursday.
Morgan Stanley this week estimated William Hill holds a 10 per cent share of Australia's online wagering turnover, making it the fourth largest operator.
In   October, William Hill said its Australian betting turnover dropped 31 per cent for the   September quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, while revenue and operating profit fell 36 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively.