UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings says the 2014 FIFA World Cup is the gift that keeps on giving long after the results are in the books. In a trading update covering the three months ending June 30, GVC reported record-setting revenue of €54.8m, up 11% over the same period last year. But GVC says the quadrennial sporting event is also expected to produce “a legacy of greater market penetration, significantly more customers and a more diversified revenue base.”
GVC’s daily average net revenue in Q2 rose 11% to €602k, with daily sports betting revenue up 8% to €297k and daily gaming revenue up 14.2% to €305k. First-time depositors rose 21% sequentially and 70% year-on-year to 81k, 35k of which came in June as the World Cup kicked off. For the first half of 2014, GVC reported a 38% rise in sports betting turnover to €693m, while total net gaming revenue rose 44% to €105.1m (€114.5m in constant currency terms).
GVC’s good times extended through the second half of World Cup play, with net gaming revenue per day up 61% to €736k. The company also added another 11k first-time depositors by midnight on July 13, the day Germany hoisted the World Cup. GVC said it benefited from “favorable results” in the tournament’s knockout stages, which pushed win margins to 11.6% from the 9.84% enjoyed in Q2.
GVC’s 2013 annual report indicated that just 5% of its revenue came via Latin America but CEO Kenneth Alexander told eGaming Review that GVC had ramped up television marketing of its Sportingbet and Betboo brands in the region to coincide with the World Cup, which led to a “significantly higher” number of new customers.
