The odds of GVC (GVC) reinstating its dividend after a payment holiday following its takeover of rival Bwin Party were always short, as it did exactly that after buying Sportingbet in 2013.
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The return to the dividend roster was announced with a special payment of 10¢ a share, to be paid in February, the same month it will repay the outstanding €386.5m (£345m) it owes to Cerberus Business Finance, from which it borrowed €400m to help fund the Bwin purchase. It has since refinanced with Nomura at "materially lower interest rates" and so can afford the special payment. Normal payments (expected to be 50 per cent of annualised free cash flow) should resume in the 2017 financial year.
