UK point-of-consumption tax (POCT) was not able to prevent Gala Coral from producing increased year-on-year online gross profit and online net revenue for the 16 weeks ended 16 January 2016 (Q1).

Online gross profit went up 32% to £60.4m and online net revenue improved by 41% to £91.1m.

For Coral Retail, net revenue made a small £13.3m ascension to £212.9m and its gross profit almost flat-lined by creeping from £151.2m to £155.6m.

The EBITDA shifts were minor, with the most sizeable being online EBITDA’s jump to £18.5m from £11.9m.

A combination of the POCT with an increase in machine gaming duty from 20% to 25% and other forms of regulation cost Gala Coral £22.7m, with its online operations being affected by £12.7m.

The successful figures meant that overall group net revenue rose 16% to £333.3m and group gross profit was £225m, up 11%.

When it comes to the planned merger with Ladbrokes, Gala Coral said it continues to work with the Competition and Markets Authority, which is currently in the second phase of its investigation into the merger and it expects to find out the CMA’s provisional findings and/or proposed remedies in mid-to-late April and a final decision is due by 24 June.