Q3 sports betting boosts PMU online revenues
French operator on course to meet yearly profit expectations after 4.3% rise in online gaming revenues driven by sports betting and poker
Former French monopoly Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) has recorded 4.3% growth in online gaming revenues for Q3 2013 following a strong performance from the operator’s online sportsbook.
PMU’s quarterly online revenues rose to 1.27bn, boosted by a 15.8% rise in sports wagers to 138.9m with PMU highlighting the popularity of Ligue 1 as a contributing factor, according to the company’s financial results for the three months ended 30 September.
Horseracing wagers saw a slight decline of 0.7%, although the operator maintained an 83.6% market share by gross gaming revenue.
The French operator also saw poker revenues increase by 10.1% to 415m, in a market where many operators are struggling with Barriere the latest to pull out citing the decline of the dot fr market.
PMU maintained its overall French poker market share at 7.8% during a period of general decline for the market following a 12% year-on-year fall in gross gambling revenue for the first half of 2013, according to figures from regulatory body ARJEL.
The quarterly results follow a strong performance for PMU during the first six months of 2013 after mobile and sports betting helped the operator record a 4.8% increase in egaming revenues.
The operator said it is on course to meet its net profit target for the year and is set to introduce a range of digital innovations during the final quarter of 2013 to “facilitate and simplify access to betting and information”.