Revenue from Switzerland’s Grand Casino Luzern Group casinos rose 98.9% year on year, but higher expenses, including online gaming taxes, caused net losses to grow.
Total revenue came to CHF94.5m, a rise of 98.9% from CHF47.5m recorded in December 2019.
Combined, the Kursaal-Casino AG Lucerne and the Grand Casino Luzern Group casinos totalled CHF 24.8m in land-based gross gaming revenue in 2020, a decrease of 55.2% compared to 2019.
The online gaming total from Paf-powered mycasino.ch amounted to CHF 69.0m, a 672.2% increase compared to the CHF 8.9m made in 2019. Mycasino.ch had only four months of operations in 2019, as it launched in August of the same year.
Casino taxes amounted to CHF43.1m, a rise of 22.4m year on year, with CHF32.6m of this in online casino taxes while other operating income came to CHF4.5m, a fall of almost half. In total, net income for Grand Casino Luzern Group in 2020 was CHF55.8m, an increase of 56.0% year on year.
However, expenses caused a sharp drop in income. The cost of goods, commissions and fees totalled at CHF13.9m while personnel expenses came to CHF15.7m, a fall of CHF10.3m and a rise of CHF3.6m year on year respectively. Other operation expenses at CHF23.0m brought the adjusted EBITDA to CHF3.0m, a rise of only 2.0% compared to 2019.
Depreciation costs of CHF2.9m and amortization expenses at CHF 271,000 brought the total down further to a loss of CHF154,000 in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT). Financial items increased the loss further to CHF340,000.
Income taxes of CHF4,000 then brought the total group loss to CHF344,000, a decrease of CHF214,000 year on year.
“The Grand Casino Luzern Group felt the consequences of the pandemic in 2020,” said the operator in a statement.
“The land-based casino as well as the catering and event area could not receive any guests for 101 days. These closings had a negative impact on the operating income of Kursaal-Casino AG Luzern in the 2020 financial year.”
