Interactive
Portugal – Luckia to launch online in Portugal
By Phil - 13 August 2018
Luckia has been granted a license to operate in the online gaming market in Portugal. The Spanish gaming group, which reported a turnover of €506m at the end of the last year, will launch in the Portuguese online market in September as part of its larger expansion strategy.
According to Spanish daily La Opinion A Coruña, President of the company José González Fuentes announced that Portugal’s proximity to the Spanish based company had been a deciding factor in its decision. “Our goal is to be present and to grow in size, we do not have much ambition in Portugal because it is a modest country, with a reduced critical mass, but undoubtedly closeness for us is important,” he explained. However, he pointed out that due to the high tax rate in the country “profitability is not easy”. The Government approved rules for online gambling and betting on April 29, 2015 but the new law imposed a tax of between 15 and 30 per cent for casino operators and 8 and 16 per cent for sports betting operators.
Luckia’s activity in Portugal will be limited to online gaming and Fuentes ruled out the setting up of casinos or gaming rooms for now. “Portugal has a very limited regulation of casinos and it is not an easy market, it has old legislation, there are not many casinos and, with the exception of Chaves (the Hotel Casino Chaves in the city of Chaves), they have all been around for some time, there are also very powerful Portuguese groups.”
Luckia gaming group is one of the most successful online and retail sports betting operators in Spain. The company was first established in 1972, with the management of jukeboxes and recreational machines in hospitality establishments. Today the company operates a sports and amusement company that engages in the operation of betting, gaming, and sports betting premises and facilities and owns and operates casinos in Eastern Europe and South America as well as developing and managing integral entertainment resorts.
Luckia is currently executing an ambitious strategic plan with a strong digital focus. The company is present in Spain, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Portugal, Croatia and Malta and in the year 2021, the company expects to operate in as many as twelve countries. In February, the Colombian gaming board granted the company a five-year licence to operate online gaming in Colombia.
