A number of parties in for Ladbrokes Coral shops as Gala Coral reports increases for Q3

Coral remains on track to complete its merger with Ladbrokes in the autumn and a number of parties have expressed an interest in buying 350-400 shops from the merged entity in order to do so.

That announcement was made by Gala Coral in its financial report for the 12 weeks ended 2 July (Q3), where group net revenue increased 10% year-on-year to £264m and EBITDA went up 13% to £57.7m, while gross profit ascended 11% to £184.6m.

For Coral retail, net revenue was £165m, up 5%, and gross profit climbed 6% to £122.8m.

Net revenue and gross profit increases were also reported for online, to £76.3m (+19%) and £53.1m (+25%) respectively.

On Gala Coral’s performance during Euro 2016, CEO Carl Leaver said: “Online customer acquisition volumes during the Euro 2016 football championships were encouraging. As in the 2014 World Cup, Coral did not advertise on TV, instead focussing marketing investment on channels where we see a positive return. Our predictive models indicate that the value of customers acquired during the Euros is around double the levels achieved in the 2014 World Cup. Combined with very competitive costs of acquisition, this will drive impressive returns on our marketing investment.”

A highlight for the period was the Competition and Markets Authority’s ruling in July that the Ladbrokes Coral merger can proceed, pending the sale of 350-400 shops.

Gala Coral said: “A number of parties have expressed interest in purchasing these shops, and the disposal process is well under way. As previously guided, we expect to complete the merger during the autumn.”

Leaver spoke exclusively to Gambling Insider about the results and the impending Ladbrokes merger. The interview will be published online later today (Wednesday) and in this week’s GI Friday newsletter. Sign up here to receive the free weekly newsletter in your inbox.