The Estoril-Sol SGPS Group, whose board of directors is headed by tycoon Stanley Ho, recorded a growth in total gambling revenues in Portugal of 1.5%, worth 54.8 million euros, figures for the first quarter this year.
However, after the payment of special gaming tax, the Group's total revenues were 25.7 million euros, down 2.2%t from the 26.2 million euros achieved in the first quarter of the year previous.
The gaming segment of the Group ended up having better results in online betting, which in Portugal are legal. The report and accounts of the company for the first three months of the year shows that there were fewer players in the Group’s casinos in Portugal, since "the revenues generated by physical gambling fell 4.3%," reaching 46.2 million euros.
"Revenues from physical gambling have fallen in all casinos of the Estoril-Sol group, with special relevance at Estoril Casino and Póvoa Casino," ssid the company, while "online gaming revenues grew 50.9% driven by sports betting." These revenues reached 8.6 million euros.
Overall, "all the physical casinos of the Group worsened their results in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year." "Estoril Casino and Póvoa Casino have negative net results, but the operating results of these casinos are positive. The online operation significantly improved its results in the first quarter of 2019. This improvement stems essentially from the good performance of gaming revenues, which has taken place in both casino games and sports betting," the report said.
The Estoril-Sol Group presents as causes for the reduction of the net revenue the "application of the annual minimum compensation table, in the particular case of Casino da Póvoa", and also "with the taxation of sports betting, whose base of incidence of the tax is the value of the bet and not the gross revenue (value bet less premiums paid) as in other gaming modalities, whether territorial or online.”
In this sense, "the fall in revenues generated by the Póvoa Casino and the exponential growth in gaming revenues generated by sports bets are the basis of a higher effective tax rate supported by the Group when compared to the previous year, and that in turn justifies the fall in net revenues generated by the Group."
A higher tax payment led to "a deterioration of the Group's operating results by 13.5%, with the Group registering a positive EBITDA of 9.2 million euros in the first quarter of 2019, compared to 10.7 million euros achieved in 2018."
Source: GMB/ Hoje em Macau
