The gaming industry has been strongly affected since the start of the pandemic around the world, either due to the closure of venues that affected the business of on-site rooms or the suspension of events that practically paralyzed the sports betting sector. And Argentina is no exception: the Codere group gave up revenues of 15.9 million euros in the first quarter for the operation of the 13 bingo halls it has in the province of Buenos Aires.
The global figures that the group recently presented to the Madrid Stock Exchange show a sharp drop in revenue in the first quarter of this year, which led to a net loss of €97.1, which is almost 11 times bigger than the losses of €8.6 million that it had registered in the same period of 2019.
As the company explained, the negative result was a consequence "of the significant appreciation of the dollar with respect to Latin American currencies and the initial impact of the COVID-19 crisis." Due to this situation, it had to temporarily close all its gaming halls in the countries where it has operations: Spain, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and Colombia.
In the specific case of Argentina, bingo halls in the province of Buenos Aires have still been closed since compulsory social isolation was ordered.
In its quarterly balance, referring to the situation in Argentina, Codere detailed: “Revenue in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 15.9 million euros or 19.8% compared to the first quarter of 2019, due to the closing of bingo halls since March 16, as well as the significant devaluation of the peso of 52.7%. The daily average per machine in local currency grew by 45.1%, reducing the gap against average annual inflation of 50.6%.”
The fall in income recorded by the business in Argentina was among the highest in the group, only exceeded by Italy (26.3 million euros) and Mexico (20.1 million). In Spain, the decline was 8.1 million euros.
Despite all the negative indicators, the result was moderated by a cut in expenses caused by the same drop in turnover and the devaluation that lowered the cost of wages in relation to the euro: “Operating expenses fell 19.3% due to savings in gaming taxes that are variable and decrease along with income, as well as personnel expenses that benefited from the devaluation of the peso.”
“Only our online business remains operational, although affected by the cancellation of sports competitions that drive sports betting activity. As of today, only our Uruguayan racetracks have resumed operations, with the expectation of reopening the other markets during June and July,” concluded Codere's report to investors.
Source: GMB
