GVC posts H1 trading update

Online and land gambling group GVC Holdings plc has posted a positive H1 trading update, reporting the following highlights:

Q2-2018

* Group NGR  up 11 percent (+12 percent in constant currency)

* Strong Online NGR growth up 22 percent (+25 percent cc)

* Online NGR for the period from 1 January to 13 June (i.e. prior to the commencement of the World Cup) was up 15 percent (+17 percent cc)

* UK Retail Like-for-like NGR up 2 percent helped by World Cup

* European Retail NGR up 19 percent (+16 percent cc)

H1-2018

* Group NGR up 8 percent (+8 percent cc)

* Online NGR up18 percent (+20 percent cc)

* For the period up to commencement of the World Cup Online NGR up 15 percent (+17 percent cc)

* Positive World Cup driven by margin and volume: UK Retail LFL3 NGR down 3 percent; European Retail NGR +29 percent (+26 percent cc)

Management reported that online brands continued to benefit from a pipeline of new products and from high profile marketing campaigns.

UK Retail trends improved in the second quarter as the weather proved less disruptive than in the first quarter, while growth in European Retail remained very strong, albeit helped by a soft comparative.

The World Cup tournament was good for the Group, helped by a better than expected gross win margin but also importantly volumes and value of new customer deposits.

Kenneth Alexander (CEO) said:

“I am pleased to report this positive trading update whilst at the same time undertaking the integration of the Ladbrokes Coral business. The strong momentum across the online business has continued and means we are well placed to deliver against our full year expectations.”

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