PMU feel the pinch after a run of lucky punters

Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) delivered its first quarter 2015 results showing a 2.1 percent decline in revenue partly attributed to a run of lucky horse racing punters.

The French operator said nine bettors had become millionaires in 2015, one of which won a gratifying Euro 5.5 million.

The first quarter particularly favoured punters participating in its Quinte+ product which has been won 11 times since the start of the year for a total amount of Euro 21 million.

Key performance indicators for the three period ending March 31, 2015 include:

– Total revenue of Euro 618.8 million, with all segments recording a decline over the same period last year.

– Horserace betting, the operators largest revenue generator, fell 1.9 percent to Euro 604.2 million.

– Gross profit on total games amounted to Euro 618.8 million, down 2.1 percent.

– Horserace betting stakes were down 2.8 percent to Euro 2.31 billion, sportsbetting grew by 4.7 percent to Euro 60.2 million while poker stakes totalled Euro 144.3 million, down 4.9 percent.

“2015 will be a pivotal year of transition and transformation with the realization and implementation of the axes of our strategic plan”, a company statement read.

Looking ahead, PMU said the second half of 2015 will see the deployment of 3000 renovated concept outlets with an expected completion date across all properties of mid-2017.

The new concept outlets will benefit from a new interactive terminal interface hipiGo, which allows “easy and fun access to horserace betting”.

Online, the company expects 2015 to be marked by several “significant” internet and mobile technological innovations.