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Portugal – Shares in Estoril Sol rise after online sports betting licence granted

By - 17 August 2017

Shares in Estoril Sol have risen by more than three per cent after being granted the eighth online gaming license in Portugal.

Estoril Sol shares rose to €7.38 the highest since January 2010. Estoril Sol was granted a license to offer online sports betting at the beginning of this month by the regulatory body Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ).

Local customers will be able to make bets on sports via www.estorilsolcasinos.pt. The licence will be valid for the initial term of three years, from the date of its issuance and will expire on August 03, 2020, if it is not renewed before then.

Group Estoril controls three of the existing eleven casinos in Portugal the Estoril, Lisboa and Póvo and holds a 64 per cent share in the bricks and mortar casino market. The company has also recently expanded into Portugal’s online gaming sector. In July 2016 EstorilSolCasinos.pt went live and became the first licensed website to offer legal online casino in Portugal. The platform is the result of a joint venture with Belgian company GAMING1 the online gaming expert and member of the Ardent Group. GAMING1 specialises in the convergence of land-based operators in regulated markets which are ready to take their business online for the first time.

The result of this alliance is EstorilSolCasinos.pt which was the first licensed website to offer legal online casino in Portugal. EstorilSolCasinos.pt relies on a state-of-the-art platform with game content that is fully compliant with Portuguese regulations.

The Government first approved rules for online gambling and betting on April 29, 2015. However, there has been criticism over the tax regime which has made many operators wary of getting on board. This is especially the case when it comes to sports betting. The main reason for this is the 8/16 per cent turnover tax on online sports betting which makes the market unattractive to the bulk of European operators. The SRIJ has only issued eight licences since Portugal passed its online gaming act. According to the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) in a statement released in May the high taxes are making has made the market “unattractive” to investors.

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