PMU sees 16% gaming revenue rise in 2012
Former French monopoly sees strong sports betting performance and also records revenue growth in Q1 2013
French operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) recorded a 16.2% year-on-year rise in online gross gaming revenues over the course of 2012, thanks to increased activity in sports betting and poker.
According to results released this morning, the former monopoly attracted 270.1m in gross gaming revenue from its egaming operations, with turnover in 2012 for online amounts staked reaching 1.65bn, a 22.8% increase compared to the full-year 2011. Turnover during the year rose 2.5% to 10.5bn.
The operator attributed the growth to solid performances from its horse race betting, sports wagering and poker operations. PMU, which has maintained its market-leading position in the French horse betting sector since regulation was introduced, also grew its sports betting and poker market shares in 2012, with each rising to 23.5% and 7.3% respectively.
The former monopoly also released its results for the first quarter 2013, which saw turnover from sports betting rise 33% year-on-year to 49.2m. Online poker revenues in Q1 were 139m in the same period, a 7.5% increase compared to Q1 2012. Total gross gaming revenue for the period increased 1.1% year-on-year to 642m, thanks mainly to the 2.49bn accrued form horserace betting.
PMU has also announced that it will pursue international expansion as it looks to grow net income to 1bn by 2020. The PMU 2020 project will see it look for new markets and identify key opportunities in social gaming, as well as increase overall investment in its current activities.
Last month PMU launched its iOS sportsbook app and was named one of the main sponsors of the European Football Poker Tour, a live event set to take place in France from 30 May.