Sport betting operator GVC Holdings, the owners of UK sport betting giants BWin and current owners of the Party Poker network, announced yesterday that their strong net revenue performance is expected to continue for the final quarter of 2016. Namely, the Board of directors of GVC Holdings expects both their EBITDA (earning before interests, tax, depreciation and amortization) and full-year profits to exceed expectations, mainly due to the positive trading trend that continued throughout the final month of December.

According to their announcement, GVC Holdings expects an EBITDA of somewhere between € 202 and €205.5 million, while their net gaming revenue is predicted to bring the London-listed company between €852 and €885 million. The strong performance also enabled the company to share some good news to their shareholders who are to see an ever better special dividend that what the company originally forecasted.

Only last month, GVC Holdings announced their shareholders are to get a special dividend of 10 euro cents per share, or 8.4p in UK currency. But considering their recent stats, GVC’s Board of Directors announced a 49% increase in the special dividend, which will instead reward their shareholders with 14.9 euro cents a share, or UK 12.5p. The positive news also lead to an increase in comapny shares, which went up by 5%, or 648p per share, making  for a total share gain of 40% in 2016 alone.

Per the report, one of the biggest growths was brought by the sport betting sector, the daily net revenue of which went up by 19%. The gaming/other sector, on the other hand, saw an 8% rise.  GVC Holding’s CEO, Kenneth Alexander, commented on the release by saying that the strong momentum was mainly due to their technology quality, hardworking staff, as well as the power of their brands. He also added that the BWin Party brand which they acquired after much struggle was already exceeding expectations.