In June the French casino operator Groupe Partouche announced a net profit fall of 64.9% for the first half of 2007. Gross gaming sales fell 5.9% for the period and the fall in profit, according to Partouche, was due to the new French regulations requiring identity checks for casino entry. The group said that second half earnings would also be poor and that the company was considering taking minority stakes in foreign groups as well as planning a slot machine renewal programme.

In 2006 the Chairman of the Executive Board of Groupe Partouche, Patrick Partouche, was given a suspended sentence and a €40,000 fine for lending his name to an offshore online casino and poker website. Partouche International was fined €150,000. The court ruling said that private operators in the French market were not allowed to offer online gambling services, even if operated from outside France. State monopoly Francaise des Jeux is allowed to run online gambling. The Syndicat des Casinos Modernes has filed a complaint against the state run company with the European Union, arguing it is abusing its dominant market position.

Groupe Partouche is the leading casino operator in France with over 30% of the nation’s gross gaming revenue at its 54 casinos. The company also operates three casinos in Belgium, two in Switzerland and one in Spain and Tunisia. Growth has resumed in the third quarter of the company’s financial year to 31 October 2007. Sales rose in the three months to the end of July by 5.4%, to €129.4 million from €122.8 million in the third quarter of 2006. The introduction of new slot machines has caused a 6.3% rise in net turnover.

With increasing operating expenses and a lack of opportunity for further expansion in France, Partouche has taken advantage of the authorisation of a test run of Texas Hold’em poker to attract new customers at two of its casinos. 74.9% of group turnover came from gaming in 2006, and slot machines accounted for 93.8% of total GGR. The main segment of clientele at present is the over 50s. Groupe Partouche has said that it is too soon to assess the continuing impact of changes in French law, including smoking bans and entry requirements, on the gaming market. (E-09.12.07)

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