UK bookmaker William Hill relied on its online and US divisions to offset a weak retail performance in the first four months of 2018.

In a trading statement issued on Tuesday, Hills reported its overall revenue rising 3% year-on-year in the 17 weeks to April 24. Hills CEO Philip Bowcock called the result a “positive start” to the year and claimed to be making “further progress against our strategic priorities to grow UK market share, drive international revenues and deliver key transformation projects.”

The year-on-year rise doesn’t include Hills’ troubled Australian division, which the company offloaded to local rival CrownBet in March. The Aussie division reported revenue down 22% as online betting turnover fell nearly 40% (primarily due to Hills’ halting marketing efforts). Had those Aussie ops been included, the overall year-on-year gain would have been a more modest 1%.

Overall online revenue improved 12% during the period, driven by a 17% rise in online sports betting, which was itself driven by gross win margins improving 1.3 points to 8.8%. However, taking punters to the cleaners led to “lower recycling” that – in tandem with “client management actions” in international markets – pushed online sports handle down 8%.