9 Jul 2015 07:00
9 July 2015
bwin.party digital entertainment plc
Pre-close trading update
Key points
· Gaming revenue in the three months to 30 June was in-line with our expectations; sports turnover was ahead of plan although sports gross win margins were below normalised levels
· Mobile/touch has continued to grow strongly: in June 2015 mobile/touch represented (31%) of total gross gaming revenue (June 2014: 23%) with sports betting at over 50% (June 2014: 37%)
· Non-core asset disposals have already realised over €36m, in-line with our target of €30m to €50m1
· New label-led structure is delivering the operational improvements expected and we are firmly on-track to achieve at least €15m of planned cost savings in 2015
· Board remains confident in the full year outlook
· Board confirms proposal from GVC Holdings at 110p per share (see separate announcement made today)
Norbert Teufelberger, CEO of bwin.party, said:
"Despite challenging comparatives together with the impact of EU VAT and POC tax, we are pleased with our business performance in the first half. We have completed our new organisational set-up and streamlined our decision-making processes, significantly improving our operational performance.
"Sports volumes are ahead of last year despite the 2014 World Cup, although poor sporting results drove gross win margins lower, holding back revenue performance in the period. Casino betting volumes have also remained strong and in poker we are closing the gap on last year. Our bingo revenue was in-line with last year but our UK business now attracts the POC tax that was introduced in December 2014.
"We have made good progress on the disposal of our non-core assets with World Poker Tour, Winners2 and United Games all sold during the second quarter and we have already reached our target range of €30m to €50m of disposal proceeds. As well as generating cash, these disposals are also helping us to reduce the complexity within our business.
"Our shift to a label-led structure is delivering the operational efficiencies we anticipated and we are on course to generate cost savings of at least €15m this year.
"We remain confident about the prospects for the second half and the outlook for our business."
Half year results
The Group's results for the six months ended 30 June 2015 will be announced on 28 August 2015.
Contacts:
bwin.party digital entertainment plc
InvestorsPeter Reynolds +44 (0) 20 7337 0177Media
Jay Dossetter +44 (0) 20 7337 0134
1 Excluding Kalixa
2 90% of shareholding sold