Online growth for Pari Mutuel Urbain

French operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) released a trading update for the nine month period ending September 30, 2013 reporting slight growth in gross gaming revenue (GGR) despite a sharp slowdown in consumption.

Local retail horse race betting remains on the downturn but the group reports strong International growth partially offsetting the decrease in the French market.

Key performance indicators include:

– Group GGR up by 0.2 percent to Euro 1.879 billion, despite a 0.6 percent decline in stakes amounting to Euro 7.734 billion.

– Land based horse race betting stakes down 1.4 percent to Euro 7.179 billion and a GGR of Euro 1.83 billion, down 0.1 percent.

– International horse race betting rose 102 percent to Euro 449.5 million.

– Retail networks decreased by 5 percent to Euro 5.962 billion attributed to a challenging economic environment.
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– Revenue across the online platform grew 4.3 percent to total Euro 1.267 billion.

– Online horse race betting declined by 0.7 percent;

– Online sports betting stakes rose 15.8 percent to Euro 138.9 million and GGR rose 14.3 percent to Euro 26.2 million; and

– Online poker stakes grew 10.1 percent amounting to Euro 415.2 million and GGR rose 22 percent to Euro 15.7 million despite an overall declining market

– Total gross win from PMU’s online activities totaled Euro 207 million, up 2.6 percent

PMU affirmed its position as the leading betting site in France with a market share of 44 percent. The company reported holding first position in terms of GGR in the horse race betting market with an 83.6 percent share, second in the sports betting market with a 25.6 percent market share and third in the poker market behind PokerStars and Winamax.

New digital innovations are in the pipeline which PMU said will facilitate and simplify access to betting and information particularly at its retail outlets. Innovations include touch screens, dedicated websites and mobile applications.

PMU said its forecast of a 0.2 percent increase in net income for 2013 remains on track.