Gala Coral continues to shine as revenues leap 37%
Operator posts Q3 net digital revenues of £63.6m with EBITDA rising 28% despite PoC hit
Gala Coral this morning posted a 37% rise in Q3 online revenues following a strong performance by its flagship Coral brand and an increased take-up of its multi-channel Coral Connect card.
Total digital net revenues for the 12 weeks ended 4 July were £63.6m compared to the £46.5m during the corresponding period in 2014, while EBITDA grew 28% to £17.1m despite a UK Point of Consumption (PoC) tax hit.
The operator said if stripping out the £6.2m PoC charge and the £1.6m banked during last year’s World Cup, underlying EBITDA would have been 202% ahead year-on-year.
Coral.co.uk was the primary driver of growth as the brand posted a 69% rise in net revenues to £33.2m with its sportsbook up 102%, driven by an improved margin of 8.2%, which was up from 6.6% the previous year.
The firm said sportsbook numbers were boosted by UK horseracing results described as “ahead of expectations” while its pool of multi-channel Coral Connect card users – which now totals 260,000 – contributed approximately 40% of Coral gross win, with spend per player more than twice that of non-Connect card customers.
Gala Coral chief executive Carl Leaver said the results “continued positive momentum” and showed the firm remained focused on the day-to-day running of the business with it proposed merger with Ladbrokes under scrutiny from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
“Underlying EBITDA growth in online was particularly encouraging, driven by our strategy of providing integrated, entertaining and seamless multi-channel experience for our customers,” Leaver said.
“The proposed merger is subject to Ladbrokes’ shareholder approval and approval from the CMA, with whom we have already opened dialogue. In the meantime, we will focus on driving performance through continuing to improve both our operational and financial metrics as evidenced by these results,” he added.
Elsewhere, Gala Bingo continued its upward trajectory as revenues increased 23% with active players up 13%, however, Gala Casino saw revenues dip 25% due to “a number of large winners” despite a 94% rise in actives.
Although not reported individually, combined net revenues for the Gala brands were £21.5m, up 14% year-on-year.
Gala Coral’s Italy-facing brand Eurobet reported an 11% increase in revenues to £8.9m with active player numbers up 10% despite being up against a tough World Cup-boosted comparative period.
While Eurobet recorded a 60% rise in sports stakes, gross win was held back by a 3.9 percentage points drop in margin to 12.1%. The firm said more than half of new Eurobet depositors were recruited through its retail estate.
The firm said current trading for what is the final period of the year had been positive with online having continued to grow at the same rates witnessed in Q3.