GVC Holdings Reports 11 Percent Revenue Increase
GVC Holdings, owner of partypoker, released its financial results for the year ending December 2016 and they show revenue of €873 million, up 11 percent on figures from 2015.
The figures were positive across the board with sports wagers, sports margin, Net Gaming Revenue Clean EBITDA and adjusted profit before tax all showing improvement year-over-year.
Sports Wagers rose 4 percent (7 percent with a constant currency) to €4.5 billion and the company’s sports margin increased to 9.6 percent from 8.5 percent for the same period in 2015. Net Gaming Revenue soared 9 percent (12 percent with constant currency) to €894 million while adjusted profit before tax almost doubled to an impressive €93 million.
Most impressive is GVC’s Clean EBITDA, a financial indicator used to show how healthy a company is, which weighed in at €205 million, an increase of some 26 percent.
“The acquisition of bwin.party in February 2016 was our most ambitious transaction to date and through the hard work of our people we have once again demonstrated our ability to create significant shareholder value through selected acquisitions," said Kenneth Alexander, the chief executive officer of GVC Holdings.
"Our strategy of pursuing international diversification and scale through leveraging our proprietary technology, is more appropriate today than at any time in our history. The organic growth opportunity is equally exciting and we are confident of delivering further growth in 2017.”
Ladbrokes Releases 2016 Financial Results
Ladbrokes, now called Ladbrokes Coral following the multi-billion pound merger, also released positive financial results for the year ending December 2016.
The merger is already reaping dividends with group revenue increasing 11 percent to £2.3 million, group EBITDA rising 14 percent to £380 million and group operating profit being £264.3 million, an increase of 22 percent.
Merging the two companies has laden the group with debt, however, as the report shows. Ladbrokes Coral is in the red by a staggering £1.08 billion, or 2.86-times EBITDA.
“This is a very successful start for the Ladbrokes Coral Group," said Jim Mullen, the chief executive officer of Ladbrokes Coral, in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. "Both Ladbrokes and Coral entered the merger in November with good momentum, and together delivered a strong full year financial performance."
As a management team, Ladbrokes Coral is looking to the future, to deliver the full potential of the merger with the strength of its brands, scale and efficiencies.
This team will try to leverage the best of both businesses using data-driven marketing and delivering a strong customer service experience. All of this will be around a build of the multi-channel experience of both brands.
“We will look to leverage our existing experience in international markets to drive further growth and use our significantly increased scale in technology to develop new products and deploy across the enlarged Group," he said. "We will deliver this with a firm commitment to responsible gambling and health and safety."
This same management team is looking forward to capitalizing on what both businesses already have established.
“The merger was the start of a journey. While we face some short-term uncertainty with the triennial review, the scale, talent and agility, we have in this business real strengths going forward," Mullen said. "We intend to use these strengths to establish Ladbrokes Coral as both the leading, and the best, betting and gaming business.”
