The online division of UK headquartered Gala Coral Group, Gala Interactive reported a 49 per cent increase in gross win, which the company said resulted in the trebling of gross win for its Galacasino.com site. The major increase in gross win for the site followed the relaunch of its online poker and casino services on Playtech’s platform in May last year.

Gala Coral’s poker services were moved to the top tier of Playtech’s iPoker network in April, which has put it with the likes of bet365 and TitanPoker. This move would likely make online poker in important part of the Gala Interactive division and the Gala Coral brand as a whole in the short and long term future.

Gala Interactive’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) also increased by 27 per cent to £6.6 million in the first quarter of 2013, something which was also attributed to the relaunch of online poker and casino services in the division.

Despite the strong performance by Gala Interactive, Gala Coral’s online businesses contributed less than 10 per cent of the entire business’ gross profit. Gala’s Retail and land-based gaming arms contributed significantly to the businesses overall gross profit.

Gala Coral’s other online division, Coral Interactive, posted a £2.3 million loss in the first quarter of 2013, which was blamed on a heavy marketing push during the first quarter period. Gross win for the division, however, more than doubled year-on-year to £12.3 million, with sports gross win rising 121 per cent over the same period.

Gross profit from Gala Coral’s land-based casino division fell 7.7 per cent year-on-year to £25.2 million. However, the sale of the business’ land-based casino estate to Rank Group was completed earlier this month, after the first quarter of 2013.