UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings enjoyed “the most significant year in the group’s history” in 2016 after acquiring and reforming Bwin.party’s betting and gaming brands.

GVC issued its annual results on Thursday, which showed pro forma revenue – backdating the company’s February 2016 absorption of Bwin.party to January 1 – rising 9% to €894.6m, while earnings were up 26% to €205.7m and adjusted pre-tax profit more than doubled to €93.8m. (In reality, acquisition-related costs resulted in a net loss of €138.6m for the year.)

GVC’s sports labels – including Bwin, Sportingbet, Betboo and Gamebookers – reported total sports betting handle up 4% to €4.55b while combined sports and gaming revenue at these labels gained 14% to €654m.

The sports labels’ gains are all the more impressive considering their marketing spending was only around 17% of revenue, well below industry average. With a better sense of its return on investment for its new brands, GVC says it plans to increase sports marketing to 23-25% in 2017.