WILLIAM HILL closed at its best level since its 2002 flotation as a leading stockbroker cited the gaming group as the best “pure play” among British betting shop operators.

Leisure investors have been busily buying into the sector ahead of April 8, when the joint committee overseeing the draft gambling Bill on gaming deregulation will report its findings. Although UBS believes the Government is pushing for a first reading in Parliament in June, it thinks the Bill is unlikely to come into force until the end of 2006.

The Swiss broker suggests high street bookmakers — who have already felt the benefits of deregulation through the early introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals — will be the greatest beneficiaries of any delay, and has upgraded William Hill from neutral to buy with a 545p target, against 470p previously. The shares, floated at 225p, gained 22¾p to 466½p, with the FTSE 250 up 22.1 points at 6,297.7.

The declaration that Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s privately held easyGroup had sold four million easyJet shares pulled the low-cost airline that he founded 8p lower to 354p. Mr Haji-Ioannou, who retains 16.57 per cent, said he was raising cash to fund an array of new businesses, including a cruise ship and a fleet of inter-city buses.

Caffè Nero, the coffee bar operator which reported a maiden £1 million first-half profit this month, held steady at its 70p high as BancBoston Capital, a pre-float backer, placed its entire 5.9 per cent stake at 67p through Collins Stewart, the company’s house broker. The bulk of that line is understood to have gone to two new institutions, one of which is Merrill Lynch.

Service Power Technologies, the provider of scheduling software, held steady at 48¼p, despite talk that Evolution Beeson Gregory, its house broker, is putting the finishing touches to a fundraising of £6.5 million at 44p a share, said to be four times oversubscribed. The proceeds will bolster working capital after last month’s contract win from GE. Headway gained a further 3½p to 103p, prompting the AIM-listed workspace provider to admit after-hours that it is in bid talks that may lead to an offer at a price not “materially different” from yesterday’s close. The predator is thought to be Country & Metropolitan, steady at 196p, which on Wednesday declared a raised stake of 26.7 per cent.

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