PMU online revenues down 3% despite World Cup boost
French operator records fall in online revenues despite 140% increase in sports betting during June
Pari Mutuel Urbain’s (PMU) online business recorded a 3% decline in H1 2014 gross gaming revenues to 140.1m despite reporting a 31.2% increase in online sports betting.
The French operator also reported growth of 140% in June with the World Cup helping the PMU.fr attract more than 60,000 new customers during the month with around 10,000 new registrations made on France match days.
Sports betting was the main highlight for the company for the first half of the year with GGR increasing 31.2% year-on-year to 24.9m, however, PMU is set to face increased competition in the vertical after fellow French operator Winamax recently launched its first sports betting product.
Despite a decline in the wider market, PMU’s online poker business remained relatively stable having increased marginally by 1.4% to 10.5m.
Overall revenues for the land-based focused operator fell 2.4% to 1.26bn which the company attributed to new strategic investments and economic factors, including France’s high unemployment rate which it predicts will continue into H2.
Revenues from PMU’s horseracing betting business fell 2.9% to 1.1bn in H1 despite revenues from international stakes increasing 28.3% year-on-year and now accounting for 8% of the total horseracing business.
Despite the decline, PMU continues to dominate the French online horseracing betting sector with around an 85% share of the market.
But it faces a substantial increase in competition from rival horse race betting firms with the PMU soon to be required to separate liquidity between its retail and online activities.