GVC Holdings PLC (LON: GVC), the global sports-betting and gaming group, is pleased to announce a trading update for the period 1 January to 31 March 2019.
Key highlights Q11:
· Online NGR +17% (+18% cc2), continued strong volume growth in all major territories
· UK Retail like-for-like (“LFL”)3 NGR flat (LFL OTC NGR -6%, LFL Machines NGR +4%), flat OTC wagers benefiting from recycling
· European Retail NGR +2% (+3% cc2), sports wagers 13% ahead
· Total Group NGR +8% (+9% cc2)
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Proforma1 Q1 growth (1 January to 31 March 2019) |
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Total NGR |
Total NGR CC2 |
Sports Wagers |
Sports Margin |
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Online |
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Sports |
16% |
17% |
19% |
Flat |
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Gaming |
20% |
20% |
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Total Online |
17% |
18% |
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UK Retail (LFL3) |
Flat |
Flat |
Flat |
(1.1pp) |
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European Retail |
2% |
3% |
13% |
(1.8pp) |
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Other |
1% |
1% |
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Total Group |
8% |
9% |
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Kenneth Alexander (GVC Holdings CEO) said:
“This trading update reflects a continuation of the strong trends reported on 5 March 2019, and represents an excellent start to the year. We continue to see good volume growth across all major online brands and territories and we remain very confident of achieving our target of double-digit online NGR growth. The impact of soft gross win margins in Italy and the UK was offset by improved margins in other territories, demonstrating the benefit of both geographic and product diversification across the Group. In UK Retail and European Retail, improved sports wagering growth helped offset softer sports gross win margins. New B2 machines stakes restrictions were implemented in the UK on 1 April 2019 and we expect it to be several weeks before we can start to assess the impact. At this early stage of the year, the Board is confident of delivering EBITDA and operating profit in-line with expectations.”
Reporting changes:
The Group will now report the Online division in-line with industry peers, reporting Sports NGR, Gaming NGR and B2B NGR, and will no-longer provide a split of Sports brands and Games brands.
Notes
(1) The Group’s proforma results are unaudited and presented as if the current Group, post acquisition of the Ladbrokes Coral Group plc, had existed since 1 January 2018. The results of Crystalbet and Neds are included from the date of acquisition (11 April 2018 and 22 November 2018 respectively)
(2) Growth on a constant currency basis is calculated by translating both 2019 and 2018 performance at the 2019 exchange rates
(3) UK Retail numbers are quoted on a LFL basis. During Q1, there were an average of 3,464 shops in the estate, compared to an average of 3,563 in the same period last year.
