William Hill profit hit by regulatory cap, U.S. expansion costs

(Reuters) - Gambling firm William Hill <WMH.L>, which plans to cut about a third of its betting shops and jobs in Britain, reported lower first-half adjusted operating profit on Friday hit by a regulatory cap on fixed odds betting terminals and costs to expand in the U.S.

The company said adjusted operating profit fell 33% to 76.2 million pounds for the six months ended June 26, as the government cut the maximum stake permitted on fixed-odds terminals, dubbed the "crack cocaine" of gambling by their critics.

William Hill now expects adjusted operating profit for the year to be in the middle of a range of 50 million pounds to 70 million pounds.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)