The news about Sazka’s intention of taking sole control of Casinos Austria was released in a statement published by the Federal Competition Authority (BWB).
Sazka Group, which runs the Czech national lottery, is owned by Czech businessmen Karel Komarek and Jiri Smejc. It said it had bought more shares in Casinos Austria to take its shareholding from 11.3 % to about 34 %.
The second largest shareholder is the state owned ÖBIB with 33.2 % followed by Novomatic with 17.2 %. Novomatic had tried to take control of the company last year but failed in the courts. It is not believed to be interested in selling its shares.
Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group have just reported the best financial year in their 50-year corporate history with an 8 % rise in group revenues to a record €3,88 billion. Sustained investments in improving and extending its portfolio as well as measures to improve efficiency also led to the group achieving clear increases in results: operating results rose by 49% to €150.1 million, while group consolidated results were up by 65 % to €91.2 million.
Visitor numbers at Casinos Austria’s 12 domestic casinos were up by 10.6 % in 2016 compared to the previous year: together, these casinos welcomed a total of 3,009,946 guests, more than half of whom were international visitors. This led in turn to a strong rise in gaming revenues, which were up 5.2 % year-on-year to €326.83 million.
