Dutch gambling monopoly, Holland Casino has reported a 12% year-on-year rise in revenue for the opening six months of 2019, which has been aided by increased visitor numbers and customer expenditure.
Revenue for the period ending 30 June 2019 amounted to (£321.7m/$392.2m), this was up by €38m on the corresponding period last year.
Visitor numbers have gone up 9% year-on-year across the Netherlands during the period. This is partly due to the reopening of facilities in Groningen and Amsterdam West-Sloterdijk.
The first half represents the first six-month period since the second half of 2017 that Holland Casino had all 14 of its casino facilities in the Netherlands open.
The monopoly has also noted a 3% increase in the average spend per customer per visit over the period, while Holland Casino did not provide a full breakdown of its first half performance, it said net profit after corporation tax was up 13% to €32.5m.
The operator’s chief executive Erwin van Lambaart, has praised Holland Casino’s performance, where he has said that the upturn in financial results has shown the ongoing positive impact of the operator’s HC2020 initiative to revamp its estate.
“The upward trend is also the result of the strategic choices we have made in our long-term strategy HC2020,” he said. “Through this we are future-proofing our company, and ensuring we are prepared for the challenging competitive conditions that we have faced and will face [in future].”
“By investing heavily in high-quality hospitality and guest experience, food and beverage and innovative gaming concepts, we remain in control of our own future,” he added. “Naturally, our Gambling Prevention Policy [responsible gaming policy] remains the foundation of our company.”
Looking further into the future, van Lambaart has said the operator would look to “set the standard” this would be for safe and responsible gambling when the Dutch igaming market opens. The operator has an agreement in place with Playtech to power its igaming offering.
