Betting firm William Hill has reported a drop in profits as more people stay home during the ongoing recession.

Betting company William Hill has posted a drop in profits to £91.5 million for the first half of 2009, down from the £111.1m it earned in the same period a year earlier.

Despite pre-tax profit dropping, the firm stated that it had given a “solid performance in the first half in spite of a difficult economic environment.”

The drop in profits has been partly attributed to quieter weekend trading after the end of the football season. Business is expected to pick up when the new season starts in the middle of August.

Poor horseracing margins in July also affected William Hill’s profits.

However, revenue in its online betting and gambling business rose by 2% in July.

As a result of the company’s disappointing financial results for the first half of 2009, William Hill expects that full year profits will be less than initially predicted.

Ralph Topping, Chief Executive of William Hill, said: “The economic environment remains tough and makes it difficult to predict any clear trends.

“Whilst we have shown resilience in the first half, as we look to the balance of the year we are cognisant of rising unemployment and constraints on consumer spending generally, as well as a weaker horseracing product.”

The adjusted outlook hit the firm’s share price, which fell 6.3% to 174.50p in this morning’s trading.