GVC full-year revenues up 10% ahead of bwin.party takeover

GVC Holdings this morning posted a 10% rise in full year revenues as the firm continues to work towards its ?1.2bn takeover of bwin.party on 1 February.

Preliminary net revenues for the 12 months ended 31 December 2015 amounted to ?247.7 million, with Q4 revenues also up 10% to ?65.5m.

The firm said had it not been for FX headwinds in core markets of Brazil and Turkey, revenues for the final quarter would have been up by more than 20%.

Total sports wagers for the year were ?1.68bn, or ?4.6m per day, which represented a year-on-year increase of 15% while gaming enjoyed a strong end to the year with Q4 net revenues up 14% to approximately ?36m.

The release of the numbers comes ahead of the AIM-listed firm’s ?1.2bn takeover of bwin.party, which is expected to complete on 1 February and see the combined group admitted to London’s Main Market the following day.

“I am delighted to report yet another set of strong numbers as 2015 ended very positively for GVC,” Kenneth Alexander, GV chief executive, said.

“With the shareholders of both GVC and bwin.party digital entertainment having voted overwhelmingly for the acquisition of bwin.party [??¦] we are enthusiastic to commence the integration of the businesses and to continue to drive shareholder value for investors in the enlarged group,” he added.

Analyst Simon Davies of Cannacord Genuity said the results showed GVC had built “strong momentum” ahead of the takeover despite declines in the Brazilian Real and Turkish Lira.

“This is an encouraging finish to the year for GVC, despite a significant hit from FX moves, and it follows the recent positive trading update from bwin.party, pointing to strong momentum for the group going into the acquisition,” Davies said.

Last week bwin.party posted its first quarterly rise for more than two years when it revealed revenues had grown by 5% year-on-year in Q4.

GVC’s share price was up by 2.7p to 472.2p after early morning trading.