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Spain – Profits on the rise for Cirsa despite adding 25 new casinos in 2017

By - 23 March 2018

Spanish operator CIRSA has reported an operating profit in 2017 of €427m meaning a growth of 7.2 per cent compared to 2016 during a time of heavy investment for the company in terms of new properties.

Cirsa incorporated 25 new casinos in Latin America in 2017 with 17 bought from Novomatic in Peru, one in Costa Rica, three in Panama, two in Colombia and two in Mexico. It also bought 75 per cent of the machine operator of Barcelona Miky during the period, as well as a bingo hall in El Vendrell in Tarragona, Spain and in Mestre in Venice, Italy, as well as the incorporation of five new slot parlours in Spain.

Operating income stood at €1,716,2m, 6.4 per cent higher than the previous year. CEO Joaquim Agut highlighted the improvements in the company’s performance saying that uninterrupted growth over 46 consecutive quarters and the results in 2017 “continue to confirm a trajectory of profitable and sustained growth in the ten markets where we operate.” However, he emphasised that no specific schedule had been set for the options that the company has been looking at since the end of last year. Agut added that for the group “the most important thing is to continue fulfilling the commitments before international markets.”

Progress was made in Latin America despite often-adverse market conditions such as tax increases, which had “significantly impacted key markets such as Argentina and Colombia” as well as “the significant devaluation against the euro of all of the currencies in Latin American countries where the company operates, ” but mainly in Argentina and Panama.

The firm also indicated that the slots division in Spain continued to improve revenues in 2017, a trend that had already begun three years ago thanks to the increase in the number of points of sale and the incorporation of the best machine models in the market as well as the optimisation of spending and improvements made to productivity.

Meanwhile the bingo division in Spain substantially improved its results with notable growth in both traditional bingo as well as the offer of betting machines on site. In Italy the company maintained its position as market leader when it came to collection per machine both via AWP machines and VLT’s, mainly due to the optimisation of the product mix available.

In Mexico in addition to the acquisition of a new casino in Manzanillo (one of the busiest ports), the company also highlighted the opening of a new gaming hall in the beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta.

The company also reported that its Sportium sports betting shops was market leader in Spain both in terms of volume of bets and by income. It has now 2,500 points of sale and more than 6,000 terminals installed. In the last quarter of 2017, it accelerated the deployment of new points of sale thanks to the new licenses in the Balearic Islands and Andalusia. Likewise, after a promising start in Panama, Sportium also launched its international activities in Colombia.

The company also reported that the market had responded favourably to the latest Unidesa brand slot machines: Vikingos and Perla del Caribe Deluxe. CIRSA created Unidesa – a slot machine manufacturer in 1982 while the products distributed by UNIDESA, such as multi-game slots and roulettes, continued to grow in all of the Autonomous Communities in Spain. The company also saw the benefits of the reforms of its slot parlours as it implements the Toka brand concept, which has provided good results over recent years.

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