Holland Casino has released its financial results for the first half of 2024, highlighting a difficult period for the company.
The operator suffered a loss of €3.5m ($3.9m) in H1 2024 compared with a profit of €17.2 in H1 2023, with rising costs and an increase to the gambling tax by 1% being highlighted as key reasons for this.
Holland Casino also reflected on its rise of personnel costs from €136.5m to €151.5m due to a number of factors, such as high inflation, with the company having already anticipated that profit was going to take a hit during the period.
Revenue for the company was down 2.4% to €395.4m, with revenue in its branches declining 0.5% and turnover for Holland Casino Online dropping 14.7%. This fall in casino revenue was despite a slight increase in the number of visitors, though guest spend was said to be less per visit.
Holland Casino CFO Ruud Bergervoet said: “Holland Casino’s finances are under severe pressure due to increased costs. This mainly concerns high inflation, the increase in the collective labor agreement and investments in our gaming offering and staffing.
“As a company, we are also still working on paying off the corona debts. This makes our financial position vulnerable. It is crucial for our financial health that no further significant cost increases occur now. Only then can we prevent ourselves from ending up in a loss-making situation.”
Holland Casino CEO Petra de Ruiter added: “Our total tax burden will then be almost 50%. This makes black figures impossible. We will then make a significant loss. Unlike supermarkets, we cannot pass on price increases properly. The only alternative is that we will take very undesirable measures such as aggressive campaigns to recruit new guests, encouraging people to spend much more or by significantly reducing the prize money.
“These measures are unacceptable for Holland Casino and irresponsible from the perspective of government policy on gambling. Moreover, the planned investments in our prevention policy will also come under pressure.”
In other results-based news today, SkyCity released its figures for the financial year 2024 with revenue up 0.3%, but reported net loss valued at NZ$143.3m ($88.3m).
