GVC to name new chairman

New reports indicate that Barry Gibson will become GVC Holding’s next chairman and replace Lee Feldman.

UK.- GVC Holdings has been looking for someone to replace Lee Feldman for around seven months. According to Sky News, the company will name Barry Gibson as the next chairman of GVC Holdings.

The news outlet said that Gibson’s appointment will happen this week, after months of looking for someone to replace Feldman, who sold shares worth over £20 million. That action was seen as something negative by GVC Holdings, despite Kenny Alexander saying that the company was undervalued.

Gibson has extensive experience in the industry: he was part of the boards go bwin.party, Playtech and William Hill. He’s also chair of Sports Information Services Holdings and non-executive at National Express, Somerfield and SSP.

GVC raises profit guidance thanks to online revenues

GVC Holdings announced in its third-quarter trading update that it is raising its profit guidance for the full year. This improvement is due to an increase in online gambling revenues, which are up in all territories. However, GVC’s net gaming revenue fell 2% year-on-year in constant currency in the third quarter.

GVC said that online net gaming revenue has improved 12% across all territories. After adjusting for the impact of the men’s World Cup in 2018, online net gaming revenue was 14% ahead. The operator also said that sports betting was 5% ahead.

Retail in UK continues the downward trend from the second quarter thanks to the cut in the maximum stake in FOBTs that started on April 1. UK retail revenue fell 18%, while net gaming revenue decreased 1% if constant currency isn’t taken into account. A further 41 shops were closed during the period, taking the total closed as a result of the Triennial Review to 198. The group expects to close a total of up to 900 shops across the next two years.