UK-listed bookmaker William Hill expects its 2018 profits to come in 15% below the year before, despite its expanding US market opportunities.

On Monday, Hills issued an unaudited trading statement covering the 53 weeks ending January 1 that forecast the company’s adjusted operating profit from continuing operations to come in around £234m, a 15% decline from 2017’s annual result. The company will release its final audited report on March 1.

Hills noted that its profit projection was in line with its previous guidance, and claimed underlying operating profit would have risen by around 4% absent (a) the need to enhance its online customer due diligence measures to avoid further spankings by UK regulators and (b) the rise in costs driven by its US market expansion efforts.

Speaking of, the company celebrated “excellent growth” in its William Hill US division last year, which saw the company expand its presence outside its Nevada base to an additional seven states. Hills said its US operations “broadly broke even” despite those additional costs, which sounds suspiciously like a case of damning with faint praise.