No Gala Coral IPO imminent, says Interactive chief

Coral Interactive director John O’Reilly has poured cold water on recent reports which suggested parent company Gala Coral is preparing for an imminent market floatation.

According to the reports, the company is due to conduct a strategic review of the business ahead of a potential stock market listing which could see it enter the FTSE-100.

Speaking to eGaming Review, O’Reilly conceded shareholders are considering their options, however, stated “there are no plans at the moment to float”.

“As a private company, a floatation will be in the shareholders thinking,” O’Reilly said. “We have a number of advisers and shareholders continually review the advice ““ that’s what businesses do ““ but that doesn’t mean it will trigger a floatation.”

O’Reilly, who joined the company in August 2011, said his role had been unaffected by the speculation and his brief remains to grow the online business “as quick as I can”.

Part of that has been to direct customers from its 1,800 high-street shops to its online offer and the company recently linked customer accounts to in-shop fixed-odds betting terminals.

O’Reilly also said the company was working towards providing in-shop customers with the option to direct funds from winning sports betting slips to their online accounts.

Gala Coral has been on an upward curve in recent years, spurred on by improvements to its Coral Interactive division which recently reported a 28% increase in actives and a 44% increase in stakes resulting in a 25% increase in EBITDA to £6.6m in the three months ending 6 July.

In the 12 months to September 2012, Gala Coral recorded revenues of £1.19bn with an EBITDA of £280m.