Austrian land-based and online gambling operator Casinos Austria reported a strong growth during this year’s first half. The company said that the growth was mainly driven by the excellent performance of its 12 brick-and-mortar casinos across Austria, its lottery games, and its online gaming brand win2day as well as by improved results at its international subsidiary Casinos Austria International.
The 12 Austrian land-based casinos improved on their already good performance during 2015 both in terms of revenue generated and number of visitors. During the six months ended June 30, the gambling venues generated overall revenue of €155.76 million, up 8% as compared to the results posted for the same period of 2015.
An increase was also reported in the number of gambling customers to have visited the venues over the six months in review. As many as 1,444,353 people visited the 12 casinos in the period between January 1 and June 30, 2016, reflecting a 6.5% increase as compared to the figure reported for the first half of the previous year.
Casinos Austria also pointed to its casinos’ growing popularity among international gambling customers. Over the past 18 months, half of the venues’ visitors were not Austrian residents. In comparison, international gambling customers accounted for 40% of all players five years ago.
Commenting on the latest results reported, Casinos Austria Director General Karl Stoss said that all the company’s subsidiaries achieved clear sales growth in the first half of the year. The official further noted that they are confident the gambling operator will close 2016 with record profits and sales.
Mr. Stoss attributed the latest results to the fact that they have invested in the right areas over the past several months and have improved their catalog of online product offering so as to reach a wider online customer base. Casinos Austria has recently launched a brand new mobile gaming product.
The gambling operator is planning to spend approximately €36 million in 2016 in upgrading its Austrian casinos. A considerable portion of the money would be invested in replacing 1,000 of the slot machines offered at the 12 gambling venues. These will also have to be connected to the Austrian Federal Computer Center, as required by the country’s gambling regulations.
