GVC seize a successful January following a promising Q4

Holdings Plc has announced that Q4 2016 produced the highest revenues of the year, with a 7% increase per day compared to 2015. As a result, predicted revenues for 2016 are expected to be on the upper end of their estimated range for the full year. The Board now anticipates Net Gaming Revenues for 2016 of c€894m, which would be an increase of 9% over the previous year (€822m), and slightly ahead of previous guidance margins. Furthermore, the company have reported a 22% increase in trading for January 2017 over the same month of 2016. This follows the Group’s full repayment of the outstanding loan of €386m provided by Cerberus Business Finance LLC. The repayment was made through existing cash resources and the drawdown of the €250m loan from Nomura International plc. As a result of this new facility, the GVC’s interest payments will be considerably lower (c€40m) in 2017. Kenneth Alexander, CEO of GVC, commented upon the announcement of the results: “2016 was a landmark year for GVC in which the Group undertook its largest and most ambitious acquisition to date, that of bwin.party. Through the tremendous hard work of our people, we achieved and exceeded many of our goals and once again we were able to create significant shareholder value. In addition to returning bwin.party to growth, we remain on target to secure €125m of synergies by the end of the current year. The positive trading momentum experienced in 2016 has continued with a particularly strong start to 2017. Pro forma daily NGR for the month of January was up 21% (23% in constant currency) against the same period in 2016. Our strategy of pursuing international diversification and scale, through the leverage of our proprietary technology and talented people, is more relevant today than ever. We are excited about the organic opportunities for the Group in 2017 and beyond, but also remain alive to further industry consolidation.”