PMU underperforms in first half 2014

The major French online and land gambling group Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU) has posted disappointing H1-2014 results despite this being a World Cup football year, reporting that revenues declined 2.4 percent to Euro 1.26 billion.

The decline is mainly attributable to the company’s core horse racing activities, where revenue fell 2.9 percent to Euro 1.1 billion despite a 28 percent uptick in international wagering.

What the World Cup football spectacular did do during its June contests in Brazil, was ensure that PMU’s sports betting division performance improved, with year-on-year revenues soaring 31.2 percent to Euro 24.9 million and new customer acquisitions up by 60,000.

The online poker business conducted by the group in France managed a marginal improvement of just 1.4 percent, generating Euro 10.5 million.