Operator News
Austria – Novomatic sets new records again
By Phil - 1 September 2017
Novomatic has achieved record sales figures in the first six months of the 2017 financial year and the highest number of employees in the company’s history.
In the first six months, the company’s sales increased by 11.3 per cent to €1,218.7m (first half-year 2016: €1,094.9m. This development is mainly due to a significant increase in the electronic slot machines operated by Novomatic worldwide. Compared to the same period in the previous year, the number of self-operated sites (including casinos, sport betting outlets and bingo operations) increased from about 1,800 to almost 2,100. Operated gaming machines also achieved a new record with an increase of about 9,000 machines to currently 70,700 machines.
The growth of the Group in the first half of the year was driven by acquisitions made primarily in the core markets of Germany and Spain. Among others, the Casino Royal Group in Germany and Basque Gaming in Spain were acquired. Other small corporate acquisitions took place, e.g. in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
“These future-oriented investments ensure the strong position of Novomatic in the global market for the long-term,” said Novomatic CEO, Mr. Harald Neumann. “The current half-year figures with record sales show that we are on the right track with our international growth strategy. This is also exactly what we will pursue in the future.”
The acquisitions made in the first half of 2017 amounted to €115.4m. The largest acquisition accounted for EUR 44 million in the German market for Casino Royal, followed by €39.8m in Eastern Europe (EE) with the acquisition of majority interests in four Polish companies.
In the first half-year, the EBITDA amounted to €282.5m and thereby was just €4.7m below the level of the previous year. The number of employees rose to a historically high figure of 26,336, representing a growth of 2,487 persons compared to the end of 2016.
