Partouche to review online investment after 2012 decline
Revenues from interactive business declined 10% in FY 2012 - operator restructured poker offering in H2.
French operator Groupe Partouche has earmarked its online division as a potential area for cutting costs as it looks to reduce its debts in 2013.
The operator’s net debt still stands at more than 193m despite the figure being cut by 6% in 2012, while Partouche Interactive – which is also active in Belgium through partnerships with Jackpot Party and bwin.party – recorded revenues of 6.2m for the year ended 31 December, a year-on-year decline of 10.1%.
The company underwent a restructuring of its online poker offering in the second half of the year, with the newly relaunched MyPok site going live on the Partouche network in December and hosting the first online satellites for this year’s inaugural International Stadiums Poker Tour event.
A statement from the company explained: “The difficult economic environment, further confirmed by the activity measured at the beginning of the year, generates a lack of visibility for the coming year.”
In light of this situation, the group confirmed that it “Expects to amplify its investment in all sectors of emerging economies, mainly in casinos and interactive.”
Group revenues across the operator’s online and offline activities fell 2.9% year-on-year to 451m, gross gaming revenue down 3.3% and operating income declining by two thirds due largely to offline developments.
The year also saw Groupe Partouche announce the end of its live poker tour following controversy over its advertised prize pool, with president Patrick Partouche saying at the time: “There may have been some misunderstanding caused by the way this event was promoted in the media and the confusion which has since followed.”