Operator News

France – Partouche finishes financial year down by 25.6 per cent

By Phil - 21 December 2021

French casino operator Groupe Partouche saw its GGR increase by 7.2 per cent to €133.9m in its fourth quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, mainly driven by the growth of slot machines, which were up 8.6 per cent to €108.6m.

Revenue for traditional games recorded a more moderate increase of 1.7 per cent, reaching € 25.3m due to the decline in the GGR for electronic forms of games. In addition, attendance has remained in decline since the introduction of the health pass last July, it recovered to be down by 9.6 per cent over the quarter and the average spend per head increased significantly from €70 in the fourth quarter of 2020 to €83 up18.4 per cent.

Abroad, the GGR, affected by the exit of the Ostend casino and its online games and sports betting, fell 51 per cent to €14.8m. Without taking Ostend into account, the GGR would have risen sharply up by 19 per cent, which is mainly explained by the increase in Swiss online games, launched on November 16 2020.

Partouche said: “As a preamble, let us recall that the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year had been greatly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic which had led to the gradual closure of all French casinos throughout the month of October 2020 until the full closure on October 30 2020 at midnight. Abroad, the casino of Crans-Montana (Switzerland) closed its doors on October 21 2020 and that of Ostend (Belgium) on October 29 2020.”

During the 4th quarter 2021, all casinos remained open, with however constraints weighing on their attendance. In France on July 21 2021, the health pass (Pass Sanitaire) became compulsory in all casinos welcoming more than 50 people, a measure extended without a minimum since August 9. In Switzerland, the health pass was introduced from September 13 2021 and in Tunisia, a curfew (at 8 p.m., then at midnight from August 18 was in place until September 25 2021.

After levies, the fourth quarter Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) dropped by five per cent at € 73.1m. Revenue for the fourth quarter 2021 reached € 94.3m, up by 0.5 per cent, after taking into account revenue from other activities.

In fiscal year 2021, the Group’s casinos were closed for more than 6.5 months, compared to three months in the previous fiscal year. The GGR stood at €350.2m, down 33.4 per cent. However, Groupe Partouche performed better than all the French casinos, whose decline, still provisionally reported by the employers’ union Casinos de France was down by 41 per cent. After levies, the NGR reached €215.9m down 23.7 per cent.

Overall, Groupe Partouche recorded an annual turnover of €255.7m, down 25.6 per cent over one year. The decline in activity, inherent in the pandemic, will automatically lead to a decline in annual results.