Gvc Share Discussion Threads

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 16:49

Interesting article in the Telegraph with some fresh insights!!

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 16:30

770p is merely a staging post on the road higher, Active! Onwards and upwards!

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 16:20

Excellent, now when we hit 770p you will be
even happier.

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 16:14

That sounds fair to me.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 16:14

You were spot on, you win 100%, I am happy to
lose as I am now far wealthier than your 725p.

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 16:12

Indeed - and very nice too! But you said it would open at that, so I was closer at 725p.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 16:10

Woodhawk calling Woodhawk

Share price now 748p.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 15:59

Yes I love doing that, if you look closely you can see
Mylands and I waving from the bottom.

940p when 770p breaks.

dyor

[speedsgh] 23/3/2017 15:52

Take a step back & look at the long term chart. From 2007 onwards or 2011 onwards, whichever. Share price looks ready to pass 2016 high in relative short term & continue on with long term uptrend imo.

[mylands] 23/3/2017 15:49

Closing in on 750p.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 15:45

Woodhawk

Looking good, what do you make the share price?

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 15:00

We will be on the 79p lots, kiddo.

[mylands] 23/3/2017 14:46

Active

In your dreams! Let's get the share price to where it should be, north of £10. I'll leave the divs to Kenny.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 14:36

Mylands

By the sounds of Woodhawks post, we could be back
to 50% dividends, how's about that my friend.

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 12:08

BTW Kenny also said in the webcast that GVC's main Turkish, German and Brazilian markets are all now going great guns.

[loganair] 23/3/2017 10:52

Pennsylvania is to consider a new online gambling and reform bill as the US state continues to contemplate the possible legalisation of internet gaming.

Put forward by a number of Democratic state senators, Senate Bill 524 focuses on legalising and regulating online gambling in general across Pennsylvania, and also includes language to legalise daily fantasy sports and online lottery in the state.

While the latest bill includes some of the same language and measures as its predecessors, it does set out a number of reforms that differ to the other bills.

Bill 524 calls for the restoration of the local tax imposed on host and surrounding communities, as well as mobile tablet gaming at select airports in the state and fixing the slots tax imposed on Category 3 casinos.

However, the latest bill would impose a 25% tax on online gambling activities, which is considerably higher than the 14% proposed in HB 392.

Bill 524 also includes a proposal to set the cost of an online gambling licence of approximately $10 million (€9.3 million), higher than the $8 million set out in the other bill, as well as a higher rate for industry vendors.

Pennsylvania’s House Gaming Oversight Committee is due to consider gambling expansion plans in the state at its next hearing on March 28.

[loganair] 23/3/2017 10:50

Bloomberg:

CEO Alexander won’t rule out another deal in next 12 months
GVC shares gain as online bookmaker makes good start to 2017

A wave of online gaming takeovers is set to continue this year as companies are driven to deals by increased regulation and taxation, according to the head of one of the industry’s leading consolidators.

“I wouldn’t rule out that we will participate in the next 12 months, and I certainly think there will be other deals by other people,” GVC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Kenny Alexander said in an interview Thursday as he announced increased profits and dividends.

GVC has been at the forefront of industry consolidation, buying Sportingbet Ltd. in 2013 and Bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc last year, deals that have transformed the company into a European market leader. The pace of mergers & acquisitions has been accelerating, with about $14 billion splurged on betting-company takeovers in 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s more than in the previous four years combined.

“We’re always looking at M&A opportunities, and if the right opportunity comes along, then we will do it,” Alexander said. “We’ve got plenty of firepower.”

The need for scale is being driven by increased regulation and taxation, the CEO said. The U.K. government will start levying a consumption tax on online gaming products later this year, while Britain’s competition authority is reviewing industry advertising.

[timanglin] 23/3/2017 10:37

am impressed with the senior independant director as well, please note his history with the virgin brand and mentoring.

[investmentguru] 23/3/2017 10:32

Great set of results, expecting a run up towards £10 in next 1 - 2 years.

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 10:12

WH

That is why I think we will be close to 1000p in time, especially if another big deal was to occur.

dyor

[gilotron] 23/3/2017 10:09

GVC – The Special One

FY16 in line, strong trading continues & another special dividend
EBITDA (pre share payments) of €206m was bang in line with guidance & our forecast. Current trading remains strong with average daily NGR +15% to March 19th. Encouragingly 69% of revenues came from regulated and/or taxed markets and 95% of revenues were derived/processed through its proprietary platform.

Sports labels driving growth, Games labels improved in H2
Sports labels revenues increased 26% in 2016, with FTDs from bwin sports labels +37%. While revenue from Games labels were flat on a constant currency basis, H2 revenues increased 4% in H2 (cc). A standout for us was partypoker, which saw revenue increase 14% (cc).

Balance sheet in great shape, special dividend for H216
Net debt at y/e was €132m (Goodbody: €137m), with net debt/EBITDA of just 0.6x. A H216 special dividend of 15.1c will be paid in May, bringing total 2016 dividends to 30c (Goodbody: 14.9c). On future DPS, it outlines that it will pursue a progressive DPS policy with no less than 50% of free cash flow returned and the board will consider returning any excess cash to shareholders. The group notes that M&A remains a core part of its strategy.

Current trading remains strong
Pro-forma daily NGR is +15% (+16% cc) in the period to March 19th, with sports labels +18% (+19% cc) and Games Labels +6% (+8% cc). This follows growth of +22% (+23%) in January but we would note sporting results were more customer friendly in late February and March. The group also guides that a GWM of c.10% is appropriate. Remains on target to achieve €125m run rate synergy by end of 2017.

Valuation and Investment View – Re-iterate BUY
This is another very positive update from GVC. The momentum in the business is very healthy, there is an unexpected special dividend and it has set out a progressive dividend policy going forward. Other key takeaways include the high % of revenue that is coming from its proprietary technology and growing regulated revenues. These factors can drive a re-rating going forward. In terms of our numbers, revenue in the year to date is running ahead of our expectations and consensus. However, we are likely to leave our FY17 EBITDA numbers relatively unchanged at this early stage given platform migrations that have yet to occur, generally tougher comparatives (Euro 16) and guidance on increased marketing spend. However, people need to remember there is already attractive growth built into numbers (+25% EBITDA growth yoy), the bias remains to the upside and the valuation remains attractive. Additionally, faster than any previous expectations the group has become a highly attractive income growth story. Furthermore, the strong balance sheet leaves the group well positioned to add bolt-ons or large scale M&A. We re-iterate our BUY recommendation.

[gilotron] 23/3/2017 10:08

libcap

GVC Holdings
Leading the pack

BUY
Target price 830p | Published price 708p |

GVC has been our top pick amongst the operators in the sector; its business is well diversified across growth markets and is supported by a significant proportion of proprietary technology. FY16 Results are at the top end of previous expectations and FY17 has started very strongly - a further special dividend is an additional sign of confidence. We see future scope for upgrades in addition to an upwards re-rating; a P/E of 11x FY18 is very attractive given we forecast EPS to more than double between FY16 and FY18.

FY16 results

FY16 results this morning are in-line with expectations which were set at the time of the trading update in January. Revenues rose 8% to €873m representing constant currency growth of 11% and underlying EBITDA of €205.7m (+26%) was at the top end of previous guidance (Liberum €205m). As previously highlighted, NGR growth of +9% at constant currency during Q4 was slower than the full year rate (12%) due to a sequence industry-wide unfavourable sports results. Meanwhile, NGR from gaming levels returned to growth in H2 (+4% in constant currency) partly reflecting the turnaround in partypoker.

Special dividend/'efficient' balance sheet

A strong signal of future prospects is highlighted by the announcement of a second special dividend of €15.1c giving a total of €30c for FY16. While we expect the Group to be very active on the M&A front, we also expect an ‘efficientR17; balance sheet and the Group is aiming “to return no less than 50% of free cash flow”.

Outlook

Management believe that “the organic growth opportunity of the enlarged GVC is greater than originally expected” partly due to increasing the marketing budget from only c.20% in 2016. Q1 has started strongly - proforma NGR at constant currency +16% YTD (Sports labels +19%, Games labels +8%).
The Group is on track to deliver the €125m of synergies identified from the bwin acquisition by the end of 2017.

Valuation

GVC has been our top pick amongst the operators in the sector; its business is well diversified across growth markets and is supported by a significant proportion of proprietary technology. In addition there is still a major cross-sell opportunity of gaming to original bwin sportsbook customers. Although the shares have rallied strongly from January lows of sub-600p, a P/E of 11x FY18 is still attractive given we forecast EPS to more than double between FY16 and FY18. In addition, there is an upside risk to estimates and potential to re-rate as regulated revenues rise in the mix (69% of sales in FY16 were from ‘taxed’ or regulated markets).

Financials & forecasts - NOT UPDATED

Year end December
2015A
2016E
2017E
2018E
Revenue (Eur m)
809.8
844.7
880.3
949.4
EBITDA (Eur m)
163.5
204.9
262.3
307.9
Adj. PBT (Eur m)
86.6
115.6
211.1
259.9
Adj' EPS (p)
n/a
29.0
52.8
63.8
DPS (p)
n/a
0.0
21.5
27.5
EV/EBITDA
14.8
12.4
9.4
7.6
P/E
n/a
24.3
13.3
11.0
Yield
n/a
0.0%
3.1%
3.9%

[woodhawk] 23/3/2017 10:07

A few quotes from the webcast, Kenny says:

"BWIN integration a complete success."

"Management team much stronger than a year ago."

"Organic growth much, much greater than anticipated."

[srpactive] 23/3/2017 10:06

I am expecting nearer 1000p myself.

dyor