Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8918R

GVC Holdings PLC

15 December 2016

 

GVC Holdings PLC

 ("GVC" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading update and increase in special dividend

GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC), the multinational sports betting and gaming group, is pleased to announce that the strong trading performance previously reported has continued through the fourth quarter. As a consequence the Board now expects pro forma¹ NGR for the year to 31 December 2016 and adjusted/clean EBITDA² to be at the upper end of market expectations³. In addition, the positive momentum across the business combined with strong cash generation gives the Board the confidence to announce a 49% increase in the proposed special dividend, previously announced on 3 November 2016, to euro 14.9c per share (settled in sterling and fixed at 12.5p per share).

Trading

All data refers to the fourth quarter trading period up to 12 December 2016 and is pro forma.

·      Group daily NGR up 12% (+14% constant currency) against the corresponding period in 2015

·      Sports daily NGR +19% (+19% constant currency)

·      Gaming/other daily NGR +8% (+11% constant currency)

The growing momentum in Q4 is pleasing given the tough comparatives, particularly December, which in 2015 was the Group's strongest trading month.

Special dividend

The continued positive momentum in the business and strong cash performance gives the Board the confidence to increase the proposed special dividend, announced on 3 November 2016, from euro 10c (c8.4p) to euro 14.9c - an increase of 49%, with the dividend payment settled in sterling and fixed at 12.5p per share. The dividend timetable is as follows:

Ex-dividend date:           5 January 2017

Record date:                  6 January 2017

Payment date:               14 February 2017

Kenneth Alexander, CEO, said:

"Momentum across the Group has continued to build throughout the year and is a reflection of the hard work of our employees, quality of our technology and strength of our brands. The integration of bwin.party is proceeding positively and ahead of our original expectations. We continue to look forward to 2017 with confidence and expect to achieve further significant progress."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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¹  Pro forma shows combined Group as if GVC acquired bwin.party on 1 January
² Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation, non-trading items, share option charges and exceptional items
³ Pro forma NGR range €852-885m, pro forma Clean EBITDA range €202-205.5m

For further information:

GVC Holdings PLC
Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Richard Cooper, Group Finance Director Nick Batram, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Strategy	Tel: [phone]

Media enquiries:

Bell Pottinger
David Rydell, Anna Legge, Laura Jaques, Matthew Rose	Tel: [phone]

About GVC Holdings PLC

GVC Holdings PLC is a leading e-gaming operator in both B2C and B2B markets.  GVC has four business segments with a number of brands; Sports labels (bwin, Sportingbet, gamebookers), Gaming labels (partypoker, partycasino, Foxy Bingo, Gioco Digitale, CasinoClub), B2B and non-core assets.  GVC acquired bwin.party digital entertainment plc on 1 February 2016.  The Group is headquartered in the Isle of Man, is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index and has licences in more than 15 countries.

For more information see the Group's website: www.gvc-plc.com 

 

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