World Cup "legacy" sees GVC Q4 revenues soar
Pre-tournament investment in product and marketing leads to sixth successive quarter of revenue growth with year-to-date revenue up to 217m
GVC Holdings said this morning it had reaped the rewards of a “World Cup legacy” after recording a sixth successive quarter of revenue growth with revenue in Q4 up 26% year-on-year to-date and the firm exceeding full year revenue estimates.
The company said its pre-tournament investment in mobile and marketing helped build both its B2B and B2C brands, and in a trading update for the period 1 October to 14 December inclusive GVC said the spend had “borne fruit during 2014”.
The company noted that from 1 January to 14 December NGR had reached a total of 217m, higher than full-year consensus and its board stated it “remains confident of at least matching the recently raised market expectations” for the full year.
“The board has been delighted by the performance of the group in 2014 and believes this strength of trading provides an excellent foundation for continued growth in 2015,” the statement read.
GVC said trading was strong across all major territories and brands and confirmed it intends to capitalise on the legacy by continuing to invest in product and other areas of business development.
Average daily net gaming revenue (NGR) during Q4 rose 26% year-on-year to 660,000 per day during Q4 so far, with mobile and gaming NGR both putting in strong performances.
Average daily gaming NGR for the period stood at 342,000, a 23% increase on the corresponding figure in 2013, while GVC reported a 150% year-on-year surge in mobile GGR to a record daily figure of 168,000.
Cenkos Securities analyst Simon French said GVC is in a “strong position” to benefit from the “rapidly reshaping” egaming industry and reiterated his ‘buy’ recommendation for the operator.
Earlier this year GVC Holdings chief executive Kenny Alexander outlined his firm’s ambitions to become sportsbook’s market leader, with a number of new launches planned for next year.