Interactive
US – GVC Holdings reports ‘continued momentum’ across the group
By Lewis - 8 October 2020
GVC Holdings has announced that group net gaming (NGR) revenue was up 12 per cent on last year in its Q3 trading report.
Reporting ‘continued momentum’, online NGR grew 26 per cent, with market share gains in all major territories. Online gaming volumes remain ahead of pre-COVID-19 levels alongside online sports wagers, largely driven by a busy sports schedule.
Australia NGR was up 64 per cent and full year net revenues in the US are anticipated to be ahead of expectations at approximately $150m to $160m, with full year EBITDA set to be in the range of £770m to £790m.
BetMGM, GVC’s joint venture with MGM Resorts, is now live in eight states, with a further three expected to launch before the year’s end. GVC has estimated that the US sports betting and iGaming market will be worth approximately $20.3bn by 2025.
Earlier in the year, BetMGM launched online sports-betting in Indiana, Colorado and West Virginia and, added iGaming in West Virginia during the third quarter. Its combined market share in these three markets is tracking between 15 to 20 per cent.
In New Jersey, BetMGM has gained a market share of approximately 22 per cent in iGaming in August, having doubled the size of that business since the start of the year. In the same month, BetMGM achieved market shares in New Jersey of 10 per cent in online sports betting and 24 per cent in retail sports-betting.
GVC estimates that BetMGM’s market share in the markets in which it currently operates is approximately 17 per cent across sports betting and iGaming. With the business tracking ahead of expectations, it is now expected to deliver net revenues of approximately $150m to $160m for the current financial year. As a result, GVC expects its share of the loss for the joint venture to be approximately £60m this financial year.
GVC retail stores in the UK saw customers volumes within 10 per cent of pre-COVID- 19 levels, supported by strong volumes on self-service betting terminals. European retail was two per cent ahead, with a good performance in Italy offset by a slower recovery in Belgium and the Republic of Ireland.
Shay Segev, GVC’s CEO, commented: “This has been another strong period for GVC. We have delivered our nineteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit online growth, along with market share gains in all our major territories.
“The momentum that we are seeing across the Group is a clear testament to the resilience of our highly diversified business model, the attractiveness of our brands and products, the power of our proprietary technology platform, and the hard work and dedication of our teams around the world.
“GVC is primed for further growth. In the US, BetMGM continues to go from strength to strength as we roll out into new states, integrate further with our partners’ customer propositions and deliver innovative products and features. With a market share of approximately 17 per cent across our live markets, we are making great progress towards being the leading operator in the US.”
Furthermore, GVC has also announced the acquisition of Bet.pt in Portugal to extend its business across Iberia. Portugal is a recently regulated market and Bet.pt was one of the earliest entrants, obtaining its sports-betting licence in 2016 and a casino licence in 2017. The Portuguese sports betting and gaming market is growing rapidly and is expected to more than double to around €450m by 2023.
Segev added: “The acquisition of Bet.pt that we are announcing today is consistent with our strategy of expanding into new markets that are either regulated or regulating, in order to support our international growth ambitions.
“While the risk of further restrictions as a result of COVID-19 mean that we remain cautious on the short-term outlook, in the longer term we are confident of being able to continue delivering sustainable growth for all our stakeholders.”
