Supplier News
Chile – GGR down by nine per cent in Chile
By Phil - 2 May 2014
According to statistics released by The Chilean Gaming Control Board (SCJ) gross gaming revenues for the 16 casinos operating under its supervision fell by 9.4 per cent in March compared to the same month in 2013.
During the same period the number of visits decreased from 524,984 in 2013 to 435,402 in March 2014, while the average spend per visit rose by 30.4 per cent from $37,585 pesos (around US$66) to $49,008 pesos (around US$86).
In terms of gross gaming income generated by the casinos in March, Monticello Grand Casino came in first place with a 29.9 per cent market share (US$11,3m), Casino Rinconada second with 11.9 per cent (US$4.5m) while Marina del Sol with a market share of 10.8 per cent (US$4.1m) came in third place.
The 16 municipalities and 11 regions where the casinos are located received a total of US$6.3m in gaming tax revenue while casinos generated an additional US$2.2m in tax on entrance fees for the state. On top of this amount the casinos also generated US$6m in gaming VAT. According to the latest statistics released by the SJC the 9,626 slot machines in operation in March handed out an average of 93.6 per cent of the stake. While the total bets made on
slot machines stood at US$ 461.8m the prizes handed out stood at $ 432.1m leaving a win for the casinos of $29.7m.
Despite the decline revenues are likely to increase significantly long term. Four operators have offered their tender for the remaining casino licence in Chile after The Resolution Council of the SJC announced that starting in January 2014 it would begin the licensing process for a new casino after Termas de Chillan withdrew from the market in 2013. The Resolution Council will announce its final decision by the end of July 2014. In addition the seven so called “municipal casinos” which are currently operated by the municipality where they are located will come under the supervision of the Chilean Gaming Board starting in 2016 after Chilean lawmakers rejected plans to extend the municipal casino licences earlier this year.
