Operator News
France – Partouche’s GGR up 17.6 per cent as recovery continues
By Phil - 28 June 2023
Over the first half of the financial year, French casino group Partouche continued to record good commercial and operational performance, confirming the return to normal activity since the lifting of the latest health measures in February in Switzerland and March in France 2022, which had penalised the occupancy of the casinos. This trend thus confirms the momentum already recorded in the second half of the previous financial year.
Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) came out with an increase of 17.6 per cent to €341m and turnover increased by 15.2 per cent to €215.6m.
The Group’s EBITDA was up by 24.6 per cent at €42.7m compared to €34.2m last year.
The current operating income (COI) doubled to €19.3m, compared to €9.7m a year earlier, driven by the renewed dynamism in the casino sector whose COI reached €27m.
This was driven by the improvement in COI at the Pasino of Aix-en-Provence, which experienced its first normal half-year of activity since the end of the renovation works carried on in April 2019 and was up €2.1m. The excellent performance of online gaming in Switzerland also drove the increase, whose COI is now close to equilibrium barely two years after its deployment. COI was €0.05m in 2023 compared to – €3.5m in 2022.
These trends make the Group confident in the strategy of ramping up the Middelkerke casino integrated in July 2022 (COI loss of € 2.5 M at this stage) from which the Group will launch, subject to the official obtaining of the required license, an online gaming activity in Belgium in partnership with the Betsson AB
There was an increase in advertising/marketing expenses of €2.7m (up 23.8 per cent) and fees of €0.9m correlated with the dynamism of the activity and the marketing operations for the 50th anniversary of Groupe Partouche.
The Group’s financial situation is allowing it to pursue the restructuring of its establishments.
The casino at Divonne has undertaken its renovation in order to regain its former splendor with magnified volumes and significant heights. The works began with a major cleaning, now completed, which made it possible to update the semicircular arches and to reopen a multitude of interior bays that will make this casino a fluid, modern and completely renewed space: new gaming rooms, new bar, new restaurant, new atmosphere while preserving the spirit of the place.
The casino at Vichy has also initiated in June 2023, a restructuring, with an enlarged gaming room by the creation of a floor allocated to games and a complete renovation of the restaurant, bar and entrance hall areas.
