GVC Holding has delivered earnings ahead of its initial forecasts, allowing to scale back its betting shop closure plans.

For the year ended 31 December, the FTSE 250 firm reported underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £678.3mln, up from £640.8mln in 2018, with underlying pre-tax profits up to £522.9mln from £434.6mln. Net gaming revenues (NGR),rose to £3.66bn from £2.98bn in the prior year.

“We continue to target double digit online revenue growth in the medium term, which we expect to deliver through a combination of underlying market growth and continuing to gain share in key territories and [merger and acquisition] activity”, the company said, adding that it expected to expand internationally and enter new markets in the coming year.

Into 2020, GVC said trading in the year to date was “strong” with NGR up 5%, attributed to strong margins from its sports betting activity.

“This represents a good start to the year and, at this early stage, the Board is confident of delivering EBITDA and operating profit in line with expectations”, the company said.