GVC holdings shares plunged more than 10% on Friday after its chief executive and chairman offloaded almost £20 million in shares.
CEO Kenneth Alexander sold £13.7 million of stock, whilst chairman Lee Feldman offloaded £6 million.
The company, which owns the Ladbrokes betting chain, reported its 2018 full-year results earlier this week.
According to the results, the firm generated 2,979.5 million in net gaming revenue in 2018, up from 815.9 million a year previously.
Meanwhile on a proforma basis, it climbed 9% to £3,571.4 million, up from £3,288.1 million.
In addition, reported underlying earnings soared to £640.8 million, compared to £211.3 million reported in 2017. On a proforma basis, earnings jumped 13% to £755.3 million.
At the time of the results, CEO Kenneth Alexander commented:
“The Group’s full year results reflect a very strong performance with proforma net gaming revenue 9% ahead of last year and proforma underlying EBITDA 13% ahead. 2018 was a transformational year for the Group with the completion of the Ladbrokes Coral acquisition in March making the Group the largest online-led sports-betting and gaming operator in the world. Excellent operational execution, effective marketing and a good World Cup helped both the legacy GVC and the acquired Ladbrokes Coral businesses perform ahead of expectations and materially ahead of the market, delivering market share gains in all our major territories.”
Given the strong set of results for the year, the decision of Alexander and Feldman to sell-off the majority of their holdings came as a surprise for the markets.
Alongside Ladbrokes, GVC holdings owns Sportingbet, partycasino and the Foxy Bingo and Foxy Casino brands.
It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE-100 Index. The firm was founded back in 2004 in Luxembourg.
GVC holdings shares (LON:GVC) are currently trading -15.86% as of 12:55PM (GMT), on the back of the news.
