Supplier News

UK – Gala Coral sees revenues rise by nine per cent

By Phil - 22 August 2013

Online gaming drove revenue at British betting group Gala Coral, who after selling its 19 UK casinos to rival operator Rank, posted an increase in turnover of nine per cent ahead of last year for the 12 weeks ended 6 July 2013.

Gross profit came in at £6.4m or three per cent ahead of last year. The key trading highlights for the Continuing Operations reflected growth in all retained businesses except Gala Retail.

Coral Retail gross profit was £4.4m or four per cent higher than last year, driven by new shop openings and the roll-out of the new Infinity machines.

Coral Interactive demonstrated accelerating growth with gross profit £3.9m or 105 per cent higher than last year. There was a 41 per cent increase in active player numbers and a 128 per cent increase in amounts staked. Eurobet Italia continued to grow its market share, with Retail sports betting share increasing to 7.5 per cent and online market share now standing at nine per cent. Gross profit was £0.1m or six per cent ahead of last year. Gala Retail gross profit declined by nine per cent as a result of continued lower admissions and weak spend per head levels.  Gala Interactive had another positive quarter with a 28 per cent increase in actives and a 44 per cent increase in stakes resulting in a £2.6m or 27 per cent increase in gross profit.

Prepayment of the Term Loan B debt of £113.1m was made, leaving covenant net debt at the end of Q3 of

£1,193.2m, an improvement of £128.9m since the year end.

Carl Leaver, Group Chief Executive of Gala Coral Group, said: “The Group posted a resilient performance in the quarter, which saw underlying gross profit growth in all our businesses with the exception of Gala Retail. Both Gala Retail and Coral Retail continue to face a challenging consumer environment, with footfall down in both businesses. This trend has continued into the fourth quarter with the weather compounding the impact. The performance of both Coral Interactive and Gala Interactive remains encouraging with both returning significant year-onyear growth in actives and gross profit for the third quarter in a row. This improved performance has been supported by an increased level of marketing that will drive growth into the next financial year. In Italy, the first of the 500 new shops opened at the end of July, and we are on course to open over three quarters of the new shops by the end of the calendar year.”