REG - Winvia Entertainment - FY25 Trading Update
Today 07:00
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260127:nRSa4415Qa&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 4415Q Winvia Entertainment PLC 27 January 2026
27 January 2026
Winvia Entertainment PLC
("Winvia Entertainment", the "Group" or the "Company")
FY25 Trading Update
Strong trading follows successful IPO; with FY25 EBITDA expected to be ahead
of expectations
Winvia Entertainment (AIM: WVIA), a technology-led entertainment business,
focused on prize draw and online gaming, today announces an update on trading
for the financial year ending 31 December 2025(1) ('FY25') ahead of its full
year results, which are expected to be announced in May 2026.
The Group achieved a successful AIM IPO in the second half of FY25, raising
gross proceeds of £40.0m through a substantially oversubscribed placing for
its 'roll up' opportunity in the highly fragmented UK Prize Draw market. The
Group continues to engage with multiple potential acquisition targets, with
some well progressed.
Following a strong close to the year, adjusted EBITDA is expected to be
significantly ahead of last year and ahead of market expectations(2) at not
less than £31 million (FY24: £15.3 million(3)). The Group continues to
deliver strong operating cash flows resulting in a growing and healthy net
cash position at the year end. As a result, the Directors expect to declare a
dividend with its FY25 results in line with its expectations set at the time
of the IPO.
In the UK Prize Draw segment, the focus on marketing spend and investment in
prizes, amplified by the ongoing transition to its proprietary technology
platform has delivered record numbers of monthly paying users, first time
players and conversion. Active customers for the year increased by 47%,
generating an all-time record revenue in the segment(4), giving a strong
runway into 2026. The subscription offering, launched in the second half of
the year, has performed ahead of management's expectations and subscription
revenues now form a meaningful component of total ticket sales. Given the
positive impact of the increased investment in marketing and strong ROI to
date, the Group plans to prudently increase marketing spend on the
subscription offering in order to further increase market share and recurring
revenue.
In the online gaming segment, the Group delivered an exceptional performance
in 2025, with active customers increasing 12% year on year, following
double-digit growth in the prior year. December 2025 delivered a record for
monthly deposits, 16% higher year-on-year, which provides strong momentum into
2026. The Group also launched a new revenue stream during the year, delivering
its first three new B2B partnerships, providing further avenues to monetise
the proprietary technology platform.
Underpinning the performance of both business segments is the Group's
technology platform, which has been further enhanced in the period, including
adoption of AI tools to drive marketing, traffic and conversion.
Board changes
Having had a key role on the Group's successful IPO, David Perry has informed
the Board of his desire to step down so he can undertake his next project.
Therefore, the Company is pleased to announce that Simon Hay, who joined the
Company as Chief Commercial Officer in November 2025, is joining the Board and
assuming the role of CFO from 1 February 2026. Simon has been working closely
with David Perry since joining the Company and a comprehensive handover
process has been put in place. Given the smooth transition, the Board has
agreed that David will step down from the Board on 1 February 2026.
Simon has over 25 years of experience in strategic and commercial finance and
advisory roles across the gaming, travel and leisure sectors. Most recently,
Simon was CFO at Pawatech Group Limited, the owner of the betPawa brand,
providing a sports betting and casino platform solution on a B2B basis to 3rd
party operators in Africa. Prior to this, Simon was Interim CFO and Director
of Group Finance at Rank Group PLC, a FTSE350 international gaming, leisure
and entertainment group, operating gaming-based entertainment brands including
Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo in the UK.
Mihai Manoila, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"The Group continued to deliver strong growth throughout FY25, providing
further evidence of the highly profitable, technology driven business we have
built across two fast-growing markets, UK prize draws and online gaming.
Our successful IPO was a significant milestone for Winvia. We now have the
foundations and capability to accelerate our growth strategy, specifically on
the UK Prize Draw business where we see significant opportunities, both
organic and inorganic, in a fragmented and fast-growing market where we can
implement our technology platform.
As we head into a peak trading period, we see a significant opportunity to
increase our market share and intend to capitalise on the scale of the
opportunities ahead.
We would like to thank David for his work on the IPO and wish him well for his
next project. We are delighted to have Simon join the Board as CFO, his
considerable experience across public markets and within the gaming sector
will be invaluable as we progress our strategy."
Regulatory disclosures
In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules, Simon John Hay, aged 49,
holds or has held in the past 5 years the following directorships and
partnerships.
Current directorships/partnerships Directorships/partnerships within the last 5 years
None. Pawaservices Limited
Pawatech Group Limited
Pawatech Africa Limited
Pawatech Services Limited
Pawatech IP Limited
Softpawa Limited
Stride Together Limited
Spacebar Media Limited
Think Beyond Media Limited
Rank Digital Limited
Rank Group Finance plc
Rank Group Gaming Division Limited
Rank Nemo (Twenty-Five) Limited
Rank Casino Holdings Limited
Rank Leisure Holdings Limited
Rank Overseas Holdings Limited
Rank Digital Holdings Limited
Rank Speciality Catering Limited
Rank Leisure Machine Services Limited
The Rank Organisation Limited
Rank (U.K.) Holdings Limited
MRC Developments Limited
Rank Group Holdings Limited
RO Nominees Limited
Luda Bingo Limited
Rank Leisure Limited
Grosvenor Casinos Limited
Mecca Bingo Limited
Linkco Limited
Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited
The Gaming Group Limited
Simon holds no interest in the ordinary share capital of the Company. There is
no further information required to be disclosed in respect of the above
appointment pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for
Companies.
(1) All figures used in this announcement relating to FY25 remain subject to
audit
(2) The Group believes that the market expectation for the year ending 31
December 2025 is Adjusted EBITDA of £29.1 million
(3) FY24 figures in this announcement are pro forma
(4) Calculated on a pro-forma basis including Click Competitions in both
12-month periods
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Contacts:
Winvia Entertainment https://winvia.co.uk/
(https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r02/___https:/winvia.co.uk/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDpjOm86ODBhNjgxMDA0NjA5YTE1ZTFkNmQxYWU3NDRjNDNkYjU6NzoyNmI2OjAxZmU0Zjc1YjJkZGE5YWQwOWNjNGIwYThkNmY1MDQ5MDNlODlhZDFlMWZmYjE4YjliMzJiMWM1MTBkMDUwOTk6cDpUOk4)
Mihai Manoila, Chief Executive Officer c/o Alma
Simon Hay, Chief Financial Officer
Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
Patrick Castle / Tom Knibbs / Sophie Collins
Alma Strategic Communications +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Sam Modlin / Rose Docherty winvia@almastrategic.com
About Winvia Entertainment
Winvia Entertainment plc (AIM: WVIA) is a technology-led entertainment
business, focused on two discrete fast-growing channels, being the large and
highly fragmented UK Prize Draw market and the regulated Romanian online
gaming market. Underpinning both channels is the proprietary Technology
Platform, which has a track-record of supporting growth and operational
improvement.
Winvia Entertainment is the second largest (by market share) Prize Draw
operator in the UK (London Economics report for the Department for Media,
Culture and Sport, June 2025) where players play for a range of prizes
including cars, luxury watches, holidays, gadgets, properties and other items.
The Group currently owns two Prize Draw brands, Best of the Best and recently
acquired Click Competitions.
The Group's Romanian Online Gaming business is well established growing,
profitable and highly cash generative. The Group operates a multi-brand
strategy including own brands, such as Princess Casino, Royal Slots and Luck,
a number of white label brands.
The Group's newly built innovative proprietary technology platform is a key
strength of the business. It has been built in-house, with significant
investment and its application to date has significantly improved key
performance metrics.
The Group's near-term growth plans are primarily focused on the highly
fragmented, fast-growing UK Prize Draw market in which there are strong
organic growth opportunities in addition to a strong pipeline potential
acquisitions that can leverage the Technology Platform.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END TSTEAEFKAFLKEAA
Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved