Supplier News
Austria – Novomatic sales reach €2.5bn for the first time
By Phil - 2 May 2018
In 2017 fiscal year, Austria’s largest gaming technology group Novomatic increased sales by 11 per cent and reached record revenues of €2,527m.
The company’s operating arm increased revenues to €1,587m, up from €1,326m in 2016, equating to 63 per cent of the total revenue. The gaming technology segment, reported sales of €937m, down from €947m the year before.
In total, Novomatic now employs 25,536 employees around the world (2016: 23,849), with approximately 3,300 of those jobs based in Austria. During the reporting period, a total of 223 companies were consolidated on the balance sheet.
In Austria, during the year under review, payouts to customers increased to around €1.1bn, up from around €1bn. The payout ratio for gaming machines is regulated by law and must be between 85 and 95 per cent in Austria. Tax and duty payments from Novomatic rose to a new high of €91m in Austria. This includes social security and gaming taxes, betting fees and income tax. Globally, the company paid a total of €539m in taxes and duties.
During the year under review, the operational cash flow reached €419m, therefore, remaining stable compared to the previous year at €429m. The EBITDA also remained stable at €587m. “Spain was a growth driver, with an increase in sales of over 50 percent, but other core markets, such as CEE, Italy and Great Britain also performed well in 2017,” said Harald Neumann, CEO of Novomatic AG, summarising the results.
In 2017, Novomatic carried out an intensive economic evaluation. As a result, one-off effects were added to the balance sheet as reflected in increased depreciations. This is largely due to the implementation of new regulations, such as in Germany, but also due to depreciations that were necessary for several international Group subsidiaries, as well as foreign currency losses.
In addition, provisions were increased in order to compensate for potential future losses from individual associated companies.
For the 2017 reporting year, the consolidated net income after tax amounts to €61.4m.
In terms of corporate responsibility, a Group-wide System of key figures was implemented for the first time in the areas of protection of players and minors, employee issues and environmental concerns, as well as Novomatic’s social contributions. In addition, an innovative fingerprint access system was introduced at Admiral Casinos & Entertainment AG in Austria in 2017, as well as the facial recognition access system Clever Entry at LÖWEN Entertainment GmbH in Germany.
The internal evaluation made it clear that there is still great potential to be found in consolidation efforts, many of which have already begun. “After rapid growth over the last few years, in particular through the acquisition of companies, the time has come to optimize internal processes and structures on an international level. It’s the best way to prepare for the future,” said Mr. Neumann, explaining the management decision to focus on consolidating growth and increasing synergies in 2018.
Together with the two Swiss affiliates ACE Casino Holding AG and Gryphon Invest AG, Novomatic reached a cumulative revenue of €4.9bn and has a total of around 30,000 employees across the globe.
