GVC tanks as chairman and CEO dump shares

Shares in sports betting and gaming group GVC Holdings tanked on Friday as the company’s top brass significantly reduced their stakes, just days after the firm reported an "excellent start" to the year.

Chief executive Kenneth Alexander sold off 2.06 million ordinary shares at an average price of 665.97p each, for a total value of £1.37bn, while chairman Lee Feldman offloaded 900,000 shares for a total of £599.3m.

Alexander said: "We have both held large personal shareholdings in GVC for a long time and continue to do so.

"Both of us remain fully committed to GVC and, whilst I continue to have the support of our shareholders, I'm here for the long term and at the very least I have a current plan that will take three plus years to accomplish."

GVC's chief executive told investors that he and Feldman remained convinced of the company's "exciting prospects", as they vowed to not reduce their holdings below the current levels.

The stake sales come just days after GVC reported full-year underlying profits at the top end of its guidance and said it got off to a strong start to 2019 as its extracted benefits from its acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "There is a widely used phrase in investing that says ‘follow the money’. In GVC’s case, shareholders are following this advice to the letter as the gambling company’s share price dives amid news of hefty share sales by directors.

"Investors are clearly spooked by this news and are also selling down.

"The two directors have pledged not to sell any more while they ‘continue’ at GVC. Investors may have read that statement as implying the pair aren’t going to be around that long.

"Mr Alexander reassures that he is ‘here for the long term’ because his current plan will take at least three years to accomplish. The market is clearly confused as to why the pair have decided to sell down now if there is still value to be created."