Sportingbet’s owner is on a winning streak
GAMING and betting giant GVC Holdings enjoyed a huge boom in 2014, the company announced yesterday.
GVC, owner of gambling brands like Sportingbet and Casino Club, reported a net gaming revenue of €224.8m (£164.4m), rising 32 per cent since 2013.
Profit before tax, too, climbed to €41.3m, a 217 per cent increase since 2013, according to its annual report. Figures for 2013, however, were affected by nearly €20m in exceptional items associated with restructuring and the acquisition of Sportingbet.
Gamblers wagered a total €1.5bn with GVC in 2014, up 25 per cent from the previous year. The company declared the 2014 World Cup crucial to the year’s gains.
“Not only was the four week event itself prosperous for the Group, particularly in the host country, Brazil, but the event led to a ‘step-change’ in the retention and acquisition of customers beyond the World Cup final in many of the territories in which the Group operates,” CEO Kenneth Alexander said.
This success manifested itself in earnings per share, which exploded to €0.66, nearly 300 per cent more than 2013’s total.