PMU chief executive Philippe Germond will be stepping down from his position in the coming weeks to head up car rental giant Europcar’s stock exchange listing due to happen in 2015.
A PMU spokesperson confirmed the news but there were no specific reasons for his departure and no successor has been lined up nor the search for a new chief executive started.
However, France Galop and Le Trot, the two main PMU stakeholders who receive most of the revenues the operator generates, issued a statement stating that “the parent companies take note of Philippe Germond’s decision to pursue his career outside PMU in conditions that the racing institutions could not offer in the current climate”.
Germond had been chief executive of mobile network SFR and outsourcing company ATOS prior to heading up PMU. He leaves the ‘historic’ operator in good shape, in 2013 PMU’s net revenues were €860m compared to €730m in 2009.
The company’s handling of the 2010 opening of the French igaming market enabled it to become number 2 in online betting in France with 25% market share and the vertical’s gross profits up 31% to €25m in the first half of 2014, although offline horse racing revenues dropped 7.8% to €4.2bn in the same period.
The group added that the PMU 2020 project, which aims to modernise the horse racing offer and attract a younger audience to ensure its long term viability, would not be altered and were still on track.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
