Operator News
The Netherlands – Holland Casino feels the pinch with revenue down 58.7 per cent
By Phil - 1 September 2020
Holland Casino said that during a ‘tough six months’ where its operations were completely closed for more than three and a half months due to the outbreak of the corona virus, it generated a turnover of €146.3m, down 58.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Holland Casino’s 14 venues were completely closed from March 13 to July 1. The year was going well up until closing with turnover up to and including 12 March up seven per cent, attendance up 3.9 per cent and average spend per visit up 3.1 per cent.
CEO Erwin van Lambaart said: “The coronavirus pandemic has hit our company hard. From one day to the next we had to close our doors and our nearly 4,000 employees suddenly found themselves at home. As a result, we could no longer perform our important social function. No legal casino offering was available in the Netherlands for almost four months. Due to the closure, our turnover, about €60m per month, was completely lost. ”
CFO Ruud Bergervoet added: “Fortunately, over the past six months, we had sufficient liquidity to get through this difficult period of closure. Thanks to the constructive regulations of the government as well as stringent cost control measures and tight operational management, we managed to get through these months and ensure the continuity of the company. In addition, the shareholder was prepared at an early stage not to receive the dividend for 2019 for the time being, which gave us financial scope.”
Holland Casino has reopened its doors since July 1 with carefully drawn up sector protocol, including taking into account the 1.5 meter distance, triage and reservation. Currently, this means that a maximum of 30 per cent of the regular number of guests can be received. Recently, the measures were further tightened by Holland Casino itself so that a safe, responsible, reliable and pleasant visit to one of the 14 locations remains possible. New national and regional guidelines are closely monitored and implemented if necessary.
Mr. Van Lambaart added: “Unfortunately, the outlook for the rest of this year is not exactly rosy and for next year is extremely uncertain. Our figures for the second half of the year will also not be good due to all the necessary restrictive measures. We are therefore currently looking at how we as a company remain financially healthy and future-proof in this difficult period. We expect to be able to make further concrete announcements about this by December.”
