New William Hill CEO enjoys strong start to reign

* Q3 operating profit jumps 89 percent

* Net revenues climb 23 percent in the period

* Sees 2014 operating profit at top end of forecast range (Adds shares, analyst comment)

By Keith Weir

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Leading British bookmaker William Hill said it expected operating profit this year to come in at the top end of market forecasts after the soccer World Cup helped boost its third-quarter results.

The figures are a fillip for new Chief Executive James Henderson, who took the top job in August after almost three decades with the company.

Net revenue rose 23 percent in the 13 weeks to the end of September and operating profit jumped 89 percent, the bookmaker said in a trading statement on Tuesday.

"The group performed strongly in Q3 driven by both favourable sporting results and the continued development of our UK and international businesses," Henderson said in a statement.

"Positive sporting results in the quarter, including a strong end to the World Cup, have moved us close to or ahead of normalised gross win margins on a year-to-date basis," he said.

Bookmakers had been forced to make big payouts earlier in the year on weekends when a number of the top teams won in the English Premier League, hurting their margins. This was offset by a positive World Cup when William Hill (Other OTC: WIMHY - news) reported an 80 percent increase in sums wagered compared with the 2010 tournament.

William Hill said it expected operating profit to be towards the top of a range of between 341 and 366 million pounds ($551-$591 million) for the year as a whole.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in William Hill rose 0.9 percent to 366.5 pence by 0918 GMT, while rival bookmakers Ladbrokes (LSE: LAD.L - news) and Paddy Power also gained.

William Hill has expanded online and internationally, adding operations in Italy, Spain, Australia and the United States to complement its chain of British high street betting shops.

"This is a soundly financed market leader with a growing and under-appreciated international footprint," said analyst Ivor Jones of Numis Securities who has an "Add" recommendation on the stock.

Jones is forecasting annual operating profit of 362 million pounds for 2014, up from a comparable figure of 335 million last year.

The betting industry is facing financial and regulatory pressures in Britain where the government is tightening controls on betting shops and increasing taxes on both online gambling and high stakes gaming machines.

The measures are expected to cost the industry almost 400 million pounds a year and are likely to depress profits from 2015, despite cost cuts planned to soften their impact. (Editing by David Clarke)