Online drives GVC revenue growth in Q1

GVC Holdings has said a strong performance from its online betting and gaming gaming assets has helped offset a flat performance from its UK retail operation in the first quarter of 2019.

The operator reported an 8% rise in net gaming revenue (NGR) for Q1, though did not provide any figures.

This was driven by a 17% increase in online NGR, with GVC noting that it had seen growth across all major territories. This comprised a 16% year-on-year increase in sports betting NGR, with gaming up 20% from Q1 2017. The results see GVC amend its reporting structure, with the operator now breaking its online reporting into sports, gaming and B2B, in-line with industry peers, rather than splitting revenue between sports brands and gaming brands.

In contrast, GVC's UK retail business saw revenue and stakes remain flat during the period. With maximum fixed-odds betting terminals cut to £2 from April 1, the operator's chief executive Kenneth Alexander said it would be several weeks before GVC can start to assess the impact of the new rules.

The European retail business, meanwhile, saw NGR up 2% year-on-year, boosted by a 13% jump in sports wagers during the period.

GVC CEO Kenneth Alexander said that the trading update reflects a continuation of the strong trends that were reported in the operator’s full-year results, which it published on March 5.

“We continue to see good volume growth across all major online brands and territories and we remain very confident of achieving our target of double-digit online NGR growth,” Alexander said. “The impact of soft gross win margins in Italy and the UK was offset by improved margins in other territories, demonstrating the benefit of both geographic and product diversification across the group.

The GVC board remains confident the operator can deliver both operating profit and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in line with expectations for the full year, Alexander added.