Every week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most fascinating stories. Financial results from Groupe Partouche and Dutch financial action feature in this week’s round-up, alongside a UK general election update.
17
With 17 days until the UK general election, there was little in the way of clarity for UK gambling as all three main parties launched their manifestos.
Predicted by opinion polls to oust the Conservatives with a landslide victory come July 4, Labour leader Keir Starmer launched the Labour Party Manifesto 2024 on Thursday, June 13, with a focus on wealth generation, green energy and cutting NHS waiting times.
However, those hoping to gain an insight on Starmer’s plans for the gambling industry may be left disappointed, as just one paragraph referred to gambling throughout the potential PM’s plan for change.
Under the ‘Build an NHS fit for the future’ section, the manifesto read: “Labour is committed to reducing gambling-related harm. Recognising the evolution of the gambling landscape since 2005, Labour will reform gambling regulation, strengthening protections.
“We will continue to work with the industry on how to ensure responsible gambling.”
While some within the gambling industry may have been hoping for a greater idea on potential delays or changes to the current Gambling Act review, Labour’s Manifesto failed to provide an update, although it did provide more insights into gambling than its Conservative counterpart.
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party’s ‘Our Plan’ Manifesto, published on July 11, had no mention of the gambling industry, or any proposed changes referred to in last year’s white paper such as affordability checks or the research, education and treatment levy.
Looking at Starmer and Sunak’s opposition, the Liberal Democrats placed more focus on the gambling industry, with plans to introduce “effective” affordability checks and reduce black market activity, while the Green Party failed to mention gambling in its manifesto also.
£585m
Entain is facing a pending lawsuit aimed at compensating institutional investors affected by the group’s £585m penalty related to a bribery investigation of its former Turkish business by HMRC.
A claim period has been launched by London law firm Fox Williams, accusing Entain of failing in its regulatory duties to report bribery and corruption charges related to its Turkish subsidiary, Headlong Limited.
It is asserted by the litigation that Entain shareholders are entitled to compensation for transparency failures, as section 7 of the UK Bribery Act 2010 was violated by Entain.
Section 7 states that “a company can commit an offence under section 7 of failure to prevent bribery if an employee, subsidiary, agent or service provider (‘associated persons’) bribes another person anywhere in the world to obtain or retain business or a business advantage”.
“This claim will allow institutional investors to recover substantial losses and, more importantly, improve transparency and governance in the UK’s gambling sector. Public companies need to take their disclosure obligations seriously. Hopefully, this will improve corporate behaviour, as shareholders won’t tolerate misconduct,” said Andrew Hill, leading the proceedings.
The affairs of former GVC Holdings subsidiary Headlong have come back to haunt Entain. A “definitive settlement” was agreed upon by Entain in December 2023 via a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service.
£600m will be paid by Entain as part of the settlement, including a £585m DPA financial penalty, disgorgement of profits, a £20m charitable donation, and a £10m contribution to HMRC and CPS costs.
Instalments will be paid by Entain over a four-year period from 2024 onwards. Corporate losses of +£900m were declared by Entain, yet booked on its 2023 accounts due to the DPA settlement.
6
Nolimit City has taken its first strides in the US after Evolution launched the studio’s slot releases across six states.
The Evolution-owned slot developer has announced a roster of slot titles to be taken live in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Nolimit City has hailed the move as a “massive moment” in the company’s growth, accessing players in the US for the first time ever.
Malcolm Mizzi, COO and Commercial Director at Nolimit City, commented: “Our games are famous for their highly volatile maths models and daring content and gameplay, so we are really looking forward to the reaction of online slots players in the US.
“Since the earliest days we have been heavily influenced by US themes. One only has to look at the titles in our games portfolio to see what a massive moment the US launch will be for our team.”
€294,000
Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch Gambling Authority, has issued a total of €294,000 in fines to LCS Limited and Blue High House for operating illegally in the Netherlands.
LCS Limited was handed a penalty fee of €2.07m in October 2023, having been found to offer Dutch players illegal games of chance via its Sons of Slots online casino brand in 2022.
However, the KSA found LCS Limited to have still been operating illegally in the Dutch market through another online casino brand, Yugibet. As a result, LCS has been handed a €165,000 penalty on top of the initial €2.07m fee.
Around the same time in October 2023, Panama-registered operator Blue High House was imposed a cease and desist order subject to penalty for offering illegal games of chance via Concrete Line, one of its online casino websites.
The KSA claims that these breaches have not ceased and has handed the operator a €129,000 fine while suggesting that another fine “may also be imposed”.
René Jansen, Chairman of the KSA: “An order subject to a penalty is more than a warning to an illegal provider. Illegal providers who do not take the right measures to ban Dutch players will be dealt with harshly by the Ksa and will feel this where it affects them most, in their wallets.”
2.3%
Groupe Partouche has reported a 2.3 per cent uptick in revenue for the first half and in the second quarter of 2024 following casino renovations.
The operator declared revenue of €220.6m for H1, a 2.3 per cent increase year-over-year (H1 2023: €215.6m). Net gaming revenue for the period also rose by 2.1 per cent in comparison to the same period last year to €179.7m (H1 2023: €176m).
For Q2, Groupe Partouche stated that revenue improved by 2.6 per cent YoY to €101.9m (Q2 2023: €99.2m), while GGR came in at €173.7m, up 2.7 per cent when compared to the same period the previous year (Q2 2023: €169.1m).
In France, the operator noted that GGR rose by 1.7 per cent YoY during the quarter to €154.8m, 89 per cent of the group’s total GGR during the period.
Slot machine GGR was the main contributor at 80 per cent of France’s GGR with €124.6m, up 2.5 per cent. Table games GGR dropped by 1.4 per cent to €30.2m.
Abroad, GGR grew by 11.5 per cent YoY to €18.9m following a 48.9 per cent rise in Swiss online gaming and a 31.7 per cent increase from the Middelkerke casino in Belgium.
Following deductions, Groupe Partouche’s NGR improved by 2.8 per cent YoY during Q2 to €81.5m (Q2 2023: €79.3m), while non-gaming activities revenue stood at €21.1m mainly due to “regained dynamism of hotels”.
