Mobile provides 70% of Coral Q1 gaming and sportsbook stakes

Gala Coral enjoys rapid growth across the board, underpinned by mobile performance

Coral.co.uk yesterday posted a 69% increase in net revenues for Q1, as a surge in mobile users saw handheld devices account for more than two thirds of stakes on both gaming and sportsbook.

Mobile generated 70.4% of sports stakes, an increase of 9.3 percentage points from Q1 FY15, and 71.3% of gaming stakes, a 10.1pp year-on-year leap.

The Coral.co.uk site saw revenues hit £47.6m following a 173% increase in sports net revenue to £19.4m, which was driven by a 50% rise in stakes and a 39% increase in first time depositors.

The bumper results for the flagship site were matched across the Gala Coral group, with net revenues for the 16 weeks ended 16 January 2016 up to £91.1m, from £64.5m last year, while EBITDA increased 55% to £18.5m.

The group’s Galabingo.com brand also posted strong results thanks to mobile growth, with the channel contributing 56% of total stakes, up 11pp on the same period last year.

Overall, Galabingo.com contributed net revenues of £25.8m, an 18% increase on the same period last year.

Commenting on the results, Gala Coral Group CEO Carl Leaver was keen to highlight the contribution of its Coral Connect card, which gives customers a single wallet that can be used across all channels including mobile, desktop and over-the-counter.

“Online growth was strong driven by CRM-led reductions in churn and high levels of customer acquisition at market leading costs-per-acquisition,” Leaver said. “Multichannel continues to play a key role in driving both customer acquisition and retention as customers embrace the unique features of our Connect offering.”