PMU continues rapid online growth
Former monopoly reports 2.5% rise in group revenues with online up to 1.7bn - company reports 15th consecutive year of growth in horse racing income.
Pari-Mutuel Urbain managed to weather a decline in amounts wagered by French players to post another strong set of full-year results, with online revenues increasing 22.8% year-on-year.
Group revenues were up 2.5% on 2011, rising to 10.5bn, with online activities contributing 1.7bn to the total having first crossed the 1bn threshold in 2011, while gross product from the channel rose 16.2% to 270.1m. This was aided by introduction of a mobile betting offering, approved by ARJEL in January last year, and the summer’s Euro 2012 football tournament and London Olympic Games, helping amounts wagered online and on smartphones and tablets grow 62% to 162.5m.
Despite a general downward trend in the online poker market, PMU was able to maintain strong growth in the vertical, with amounts staked up 39% year-on-year in 2012 to 518m, making it the market leader among sites which offer poker alongside other products.
Meanwhile the former monopoly’s core horse racing vertical has recorded its 15th consecutive year of growth, despite a slight decline in amounts wagered in Q3. Gross profit rose 0.7% from 2011 to 2.5bn, accounting for the majority of the company’s total group profit.
Commenting on the results PMU chief executive Philippe Germond said: “Despite the economy, PMU has been able to maintain growth momentum in 2012, including in its core horse betting vertical, thanks to technological and commercial innovations and careful attention to the needs of our clients.”
Germond also spoke of the group’s growing international presence. Following deals to offer PMU’s product in Belgian betting shops with the likes of Ladbrokes, PMU Belge, and Eurotiercé “ companies a share of around 80% of the country’s sports betting market. The company has also seen strong growth in the German market, which it said had risen 85%, yet did not break out figures. Throughout 2012, amounts wagered on French races in foreign countries rose 86.8% year-on-year to 329.7m.
“The strong international development activity is another source of satisfaction, which has allowed us to offset the decline in amounts wagered by French bettors,” Germond added.