French operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) reported a 0.6 percent decline in total stakes for the full year 2016 despite strong progress in sports and international horserace betting.
The company believes a myriad of new initiatives implemented to offset difficult local market conditions and the continued impact of the separation of its online and offline business will begin to show real progress in the year ahead.
A renewed focus on International horserace betting has been rewarding, PMU said, with pari-mutuel betting stakes surpassing the billion-Euro mark to reach Euro 1.042 billion, an increase of 29 percent over full year 2015.
Key performance indicators for the full year 2016 period include:
– Total stakes of Euro 9.738 billion, a decrease of 0.6 percent.
– A rise in total gross gaming revenue of 1.3 percent to Euro 2.444 billion.
– A decline in total horserace betting stakes of 1.1 percent to Euro 8.896 billion while total gross gaming revenue rose 1.2 percent to Euro 2.385 billion of which French stakes declined 4 percent and International stakes rose 29 percent.
– Total sports betting stakes rose 19.7 percent to Euro 283 million with gross gaming revenue reaching Euro 44 million, an increase of 1.9 percent.
– Poker stakes declined 1.6 percent to Euro 559 million and gross gaming revenues rose 1.9 percent to Euro 15 million.
PMU has invested heavily in three key areas: the transformation of its point of sale network; innovation in digital; and in further development of its customer services. This strategic acceleration and continued transformation will give the company more agility, it says, streamlining its course to the return of sustainable growth.