CIRSA records €37.5 million operating profit in Q3 of 2020

Terrassa, 24th November 2020 – CIRSA, a leading global gaming and entertainment company and Spain’s market leader, reported an operating profit of €37.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. Operating income from July to September was €232.8 million. The cumulative result for the first nine months of 2020 was an operating profit of €74.9 million and an operating income of €630.9 million.

Despite the operations and results still suffering a strong impact from the closures and all kind of restrictions derived from the pandemic, the improvement of Q3 results compared to the Q2 was due to hospitality activities and gaming subsectors reopening in Spain and Italy in June. The reopenings in these two European countries meant a growth in the slot machine division compared to the same period in 2019. In Latam the gradual reopening at the end of Q3 of gaming halls in the Dominican Republic, and partially in Mexico and Colombia under significant time and capacity restrictions, had no significant impact on the Group’s results. Likewise, Sportium’s contribution was noteworthy due to the return of the main sporting competitions and the continuous improvement of the product.

Costa Rica and Panama were added to these reopenings in mid-October with restrictions on time, capacity and additional services dictated by the various state, regional and local authorities. Business in Peru, Morocco and part of Mexico (7 halls) remain closed.

In the reopenings, CIRSA continued to demonstrate the effectiveness of the health and safety plan and the “Play Safe” offer, designed from early March and applied since the first day of the new openings. The plan has been one of the key elements in gaining the trust of clients since the first openings, being able to implement it with the highest security standards for both clients and workers. Likewise, from the different states of alert, the Company has implemented multiple measures to safeguard its sustainability in the short, medium and long term, mainly protecting liquidity and reducing operating costs. Thus, the Group’s liquidity at the end of the third quarter was €353 million.

Q3 2020 Highlights CASINOS

• After the openings in Spain during Q2, the Casinos division gradually recommenced its activity between the end of August and September in the Dominican Republic and incipiently in Colombia, recovering a good level of visits despite the significant restrictions on capacity and opening hours.

SLOT MACHINES

• Although with restrictions, the reopening of the hospitality establishments during the second quarter and the successful implementation of all the scheduled reactivation plans allowed for a remarkable recovery in results for the Slot Machines division during the July-September period, partially supported by the latest slots machine models launched by UNIDESA (Manhattan and Oro del Faraón), which became the best performers in the market.

ITALY

• In Italy, activity was completely restarted at the beginning of July, allowing for the gradual recovery of activity levels in both AWP machines and in the models of video-lottery (VLT) and game halls.

BINGO HALLS

• The Bingo Halls division kept all its halls open during the third quarter under significant time restrictions, thus managing to increase the level of activity and the number of visits per month, thanks to the trust conveyed by the “Play Safe” Plan on health and safety measures for employees and clients. The improvement in forecast results was also related to the loyalty-gaining actions implemented since the reopening.

MEXICO

• In the third quarter, Mexico continued to incorporate new reopenings after the first ones began at the end of the second quarter. Some of the halls received a visit from the municipal and national authorities, who praised the comprehensive health and safety measures plan for clients and employees, as well as those related to the facilities themselves. The restrictions imposed in Mexico, on time as well as on capacity and services, were the strictest of all the markets.

B2B – UNIDESA

• The activity in the Industrial department returned to a certain level of normality by increasing commercial activity both in the sale of machines of the Manhattan and Oro del Faraón models, as well as in the installation of hall management systems in Spain (Forward Systems), which continue to strengthen. Also, in the arcades sector, the commercial launch of Storm Cash – the new direct gambling product by UNIDESA – stood out with excellent customer reception.

ARCADES

• In July, the division was able to reopen all arcades in Spain, with the health and safety measures contemplated in the “Play Safe” Plan, obtaining large acceptance from both clients and official bodies, which highlighted the diversity and effectiveness of the measures implemented. These measures, along with commercial actions put in place during this quarter, were key to achieving the return of clients despite the various time restrictions applied in each region.

SPORTIUM

• The Sportium retail business was fully operational during Q3. In addition, the recommencement of the most important sporting competitions catalysed users and sales. Additionally, the online business (the only one that remained operational during lockdown) also benefitted from the reactivation of the sports calendar. As a whole, activity levels approached those at the beginning of the year.