GGR for 2023 was comfortably higher than €636.7m reported by Groupe Partouche in 2022. The group noted that the previous year’s figures were impacted by the pandemic, with some restrictions remaining in place until March of that year.
As for 2023, Groupe Partouche put the increase down to growth across several key sectors. GGR from slot machines increased 7.6%, while GGR from electronic traditional games in France climbed 20.3%. In addition, online games GGR in Switzerland was 41.6% higher year-on-year.
Net gaming revenue (NGR) jumped 9.0% to €332.9m and turnover excluding NGR jumped 9.6% to €94.3m. Globally, consolidated turnover increased 9.0% to €423.8m.
2023: Net profit down despite revenue growth
Turning to spending and costs were up almost across the board. Employee expenses were the main outgoing at €177.2m, up 5.5%, while purchases and external expenses jumped 16.9% to €142.6m.
Current operating profit for the year was 18.3% higher at €27.4m. However, certain income from the previous year was not present in 2023, with this impacting bottom line. During 2022, Groupe Partouche reported €17.6m in non-operating income, including a €14.1m gain on sale of consolidated expenses and €3.5m in other non-current income.
Including these figures in the year-on-year comparison meant operating profit was down by 32.7% to €27.4m. After also accounting for €2.9m in finance costs, pre-tax profit amounted to €24.5m, a drop of 36.2%.
Groupe Partouche paid €1.1m in tax and also reported €100,000 in share expenses. As such, it ended 2023 with a net profit of €23.4m, down 37.0% from €37.1m in the previous year.
However, there was better news in terms of EBITDA. This edged up 0.7% to €76.1m for the full year.
Groupe Partouche updates on Belgian online casino deal
Alongside the full year results, Groupe Partouche also issued an update on progress with its online casino deal in Belgium.
Last June, Groupe Partouche struck up a partnership with Betsson in the country. This came after Betsson agreed to acquire Belgian sports betting and gaming operator Betfirst Group for €120.0m. The deal will grant Groupe Partouche access to the country’s icasino market.
The partnership will initially focus on Belgium, with scope to expand into other markets. At the time, both parties said that the Belgian launch hinged on securing the relevant licence. Groupe Partouche already held an offline casino licence in the country.
In its update, Groupe Partouche said its Casino Middelkerke has been issued a licence to offer online casino games. The licence came into effect this month (January).
The same casino will also be moving to a new location later this year. Middelkerke had been temporarily operating in an outlying hotel since becoming part of Groupe Partouche in July 2022. It will relocate to a seafront site in March.