UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings has released a trading update showing 2014 net gaming revenue (NGR) of €224.6m, up 23% over 2013. Revenue was up 22% in Q4 – the sixth consecutive quarter of growth – thanks to sports betting turnover topping €435m, a new quarterly record. Daily betting NGR came to €302k (+24%) while gaming NGR hit €344k (+21%).
GVC says 2015 has started on a positive note, with sports wagers up 9.7% and customer deposits up 22% over the first eight days of January. CEO Kenneth Alexander (pictured) credited the boffo performance to motivated staff, who have bonus plans aligned to the level of dividends paid to shareholders. There must be some happy GVC employees, then, as GVC declared a dividend of 12.5€cents per share, up 8.7% year-on-year.
Looking forward, Alexander says he expects to increase GVC’s focus on regulated markets but don’t expect the company to mimic the ill-advised ‘volume-to-value’ strategy employed by Bwin.party digital entertainment. Unlike Bwin.party, which pulled out of many grey-market jurisdictions two years ago and has since witnessed its revenues plummet, Alexander says GVC has “no plans to exit any of the markets we are in at the moment.”
In fact, Alexander told eGaming Review that GVC was looking to expand into Asian markets sometime in 2015. Alexander offered no fixed agenda for when and where this expansion might take place but said he hoped to appoint a new Asian-facing exec in the next few weeks.
Alexander expects some potential acquisition targets may present themselves as UK-facing operators struggle with the new 15% point-of-consumption tax (POCT), which kicked in on Dec. 1. Alexander said GVC would give some of the “smaller” UK-facing operators a good looking over. Should GVC choose to pull its trigger, Alexander said they “would probably keep the brands … I prefer to take some costs out and keep the brands.”
