GVC bullish on sports betting

The GVC online gambling group is bullish heading into the last stretch of 2013, issuing a trading update Wednesday in which it said it expects group full year results to be at the upper end of analysts’ current expectations.

The Group’s trading has held up extremely well in the first two months of Q4 2013, reinforcing the success of GVC’s integration of the Sportingbet business, Management reports.

The sports margin was 8.2 percent (Q3 2013: 9.4 percent) despite the “punter-friendly” nature of a number of European sports events.

In the first two months of Q4 2013, average wagers per day rose to Euro 4 million per day, up 23 percent on the prior quarter (Q3 2013 – Euro 3.3 million) and up 12 percent on October and November in 2012, on a like-for-like basis.

Despite the reduction in sports margin percentage, average daily net gaming revenue (“NGR”) in the first two months of Q4-2013 rose by 4 percent to Euro 536,000 per day from Euro 516,000 per day in Q3 2013.

Management therefore expects group full year results to be at the upper end of analysts’ current expectations.