Gambling operator Gala Coral Group today published its financial results for the twelve weeks ended July 2, 2016, or the third quarter of its current fiscal year. Group revenue totaled £264 million, up 10% as compared to the figure reported for the same period of the previous year.
EBITDA for the period amounted to £57.7 million, reflecting a 13% increase year-on-year. EBIT also increased from £37.6 million reported for the same three months of 2015 to £48.3 million in 2016. The gambling group generated profit loss after non-cash interest on shareholder loans but before tax of £26.2 million.
Coral’s Retail division generated a total of £165 million in net revenue for the reported three months, up £7.4 million year-on-year. Gross profit totaled £122.8 million, reflecting an increase of £6.9 million year-on-year. EBITDA dropped slightly to £31.9 million.
Net revenue from the Eurobet Retail business amounted to £21.3 million, up £2.9 million. Gross profit increased by £1.3 million to £7.6 million. The division generated EBITDA of £5.3 million during the period in review, up £1.7 million from the prior-year three months.
Online net revenue totaled £76.3 million, reflecting an increase of £12.4 million. Gross profit amounted to £53.1 million, up £10.5 million year-on-year. EBITDA from online operations increased by £4.5 million during the fiscal year’s third quarter to reach £21.6 million.
The Coral Telebet division generated net revenue of £1.4 million during the three months in review, up £0.3 million year-on-year. Gross profit totaled £1.1 million, reflecting a rise of £0.1 million from the previous year. EBITDA from the division amounted to £0.6 million, up £0.3 million year-on-year.
The company said EBITDA was ahead of expectations in all its divisions, except from its Retail and Online businesses where it was affected negatively by certain regulatory requirements introduced during the second quarter of the year.
On a year-to-date basis, Group net revenue increased 12% or £93.5 million to reach a total of £868.9 million. The company also registered growth in overall EBITDA. It was up 15% year-on-year to £182.3 million.
Today’s report is likely the last one Gala Coral posts prior to its planned merger with fellow gambling operator Ladbrokes. Late last month, the two companies were given the green light by the UK Competition and Markets Authority to proceed with their operations’ consolidation provided that they sell between 350 and 400 sports betting outlets in the UK and Ireland. Gala Coral said that the sale has attracted the interest of a number of parties and that the disposal process is already well under way. The merger is likely to be completed this fall, the operator notified.
