of Man-headquartered GVC Holdings has reported pro forma net gaming revenue growth of 9% in its full-year results for 2016, rising to €894.6m compared to €822.2m in 2015.

The pro forma results are presented as though GVC had acquired Bwin on 1 January 2016.

Sports wagers climbed 4% to €4.55bn, while sports margin grew to 9.6% compared to 8.5% for the prior year.

Clean EBITDA also grew over the period, rising 26% to €205.7m, while EBITDA margin grew from 23% in 2015 to 23% for 2016.

The operator reported an statutory pre-tax loss of €138.6m, mainly due to costs related to the £1.1bn acquisition of Bwin completed on 1 February 2016, although the group affirmed that overall trading had been boosted by gains made in the sports betting market.

Kenneth Alexander, Chief Executive of GVC, said: “The acquisition of bwin.party in February 2016 was our most ambitious transaction to date and through the hard work of our people we have once again demonstrated our ability to create significant shareholder value through selected acquisitions.

“Our strategy of pursuing international diversification and scale through leveraging our proprietary technology, is more appropriate today than at any time in our history. The organic growth opportunity is equally exciting and we are confident of delivering further growth in 2017.”