Holland Casino sees rise in visitors and land-based gaming turnover

The Dutch casino operator has reported turnover of €405.3m for H1.

The Netherlands.- The state-controlled casino brand Holland Casino has reported that turnover reached €405.3m in the first half of the year. It reported that visits to its land-based casinos reached 2.5 million, up from 1.8 million in the same half of last year, when there were still Covid-19 restrictions in place.

Visitor numbers were still down slightly against pre-pandemic numbers from 2019, but average player spend was up at €138 compared to €117 before the pandemic. The average spend was, however, down against H1 2022 (€148).

Despite the rise in overall turnover, online revenue fell by 30.8 per cent to €57.2m. Holland Casino put this down to increased competition in The Netherlands’ online gambling market, which opened in October 2021.

It also said that its social choices, such as the decision to halt advertising before the July implementation of the Dutch ban on gambling advertising had affected its results. It hopes to see some recovery now that all operators are prevented from advertising.

The casino operator is also facing higher costs, both due to the rise in energy prices and inflation and because it took on 468 new staff. It also has to pay tax debts incurred during the pandemic.

Holland Casino CEO Petra de Ruiter said: “We are happy that guests are increasingly finding us again. At the same time, not all visitors have yet found their way back. 

“Now that our operation is getting better and better and we have attracted many new employees, we can also offer our complete spectrum of games again. We expect the recovery that has started to continue. We now have a good basis for this to work on new plans with positive energy.”

Chief financial officer Ruud Bergervoet said: “I am happy with where we are but we cannot sit back and relax. There remain significant challenges for the near future. The cost increases will continue to depress our results in the coming years, and we will also have to pay off our Covid-19 tax debt. 

“At the same time, we must also keep up our investments to remain relevant for our guests. That is why we will have to continuously monitor the right balance between a healthy financial position and investments in the future.”

Holland Casino reported €753.8m in full-year gross revenue for 2022, an increase of 147.7 per cent year-on-year. Holland Casino’s 14 venues only returned to operations definitively on February 25 having been closed for 25 days in the early part of the year.