GVC Holdings PLC (LON: GVC), the owner of the Labrokes Coral betting group, has warned that the new coronavirus lockdowns imposed on the UK and Europe will cost it at least £37mln.
In England, all leisure venues, pubs, restaurants and hospitality outlets have to close for a month from this Thursday, November 5, due to the new restrictions.
Betting shops in Wales and the Republic of Ireland are also shut, while in Italy all shops except corner outlets are closed until November 24 and in Belgium until December 13.
GVC said the cost of these closures on underlying profits in UK retail operations would be £27mln and £10mln in Europe.
If all of the operations had to close for a month the cost in lost profits would rise to £43mln, it added.
“We are following government advice in each area of our operations and are enacting contingency plans to minimise the impact on the business,” GVC said in a statement, adding that the safety and well-being of customers and staff were paramount.
GVC added that its estimates include the benefit of government support where available and other retail cost mitigation.
Today’s update comes just weeks after the FTSE 100 group raised its forecast for underlying profits in the current year to end December 2020 to between £770mln and £790mln.
Group net revenue climbed 12% in the third quarter to end-September, 2020.