Gala Coral full-year revenues leap 36%
Operator's digital net revenues up by more than a third as underlying EBITDA doubles
Gala Coral’s online business this morning posted a 36% increase in full-year net revenues after the firm enjoyed a strong final quarter to its 12-month reporting period.
Total net revenues for the 52 weeks ended 28 September 2015 were £247.8m with EBITDA up 14% to £56.2m, although the firm said this figure would have been up by 99% without the impact of the UK Point of Consumption tax.
Growth was powered by its flagship Coral.co.uk brand, which saw net revenues increase by 62% across the year to £119m or 48% of total Gala Coral online revenues.
Coral.co.uk sports betting net revenues totalled £41.9m, up 68% year-on-year, with stakes and spend per head up 58% and 31% respectively. However, the majority of Coral.co.uk revenues were derived from gaming with the firm attributing strong cross-sell for a 60% increase to £77.1m.
The Gala gaming brand also saw strong double-digit growth with net revenues up 23% to £92m, the vast majority of which were contributed by GalaBingo.com, which saw net revenues increase 26% to £78m.
Meanwhile the operator’s Italy facing Eurobet brand saw net revenues increase a more modest 7% to £36.8m with a decline in margin from 15.3% to 10.8% impacting overall performance.
The results come on the back of yet another strong quarter for the operator, with Q4 net revenues up 30% to £60.9m boosted by a 50% increase in revenues from Coral.co.uk, which also recorded a 1.1pp increase in margin to 7.8%.
Gala Coral CEO Carl Leaver attributed the growth to its multi-channel proposition which he said was driving online revenues and enabling the firm to acquire customers at cheaper rates.
“Growth in the online business continued at market leading rates with net revenue 36% ahead and underlying EBITDA double the prior year,” Leaver said.
“Our unique multi-channel capability in both the UK and Italy continues to be a key driver of value: Connect customers are contributing over 40% of Coral.co.uk gross win, while in Italy, multi-channel acquisition helped propel Eurobet.it to the number two position in the online sports market,” he added.
This morning’s full-year results may well be its last as the firm prepares to merge with rival Ladbrokes, pending regulatory approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
Last week Gala Coral scooped a hat-trick of prizes at the eGR Operator Awards in London, including the headline Operator of the Year award and Bingo Operator of the Year for GalaBingo.com.