Online and land-based operator Cirsa announced that it made an operating profit of €28.6m (£23.2m/$32.8m) in the first quarter of 2021, while net income fell by €23.8m year on year.
Cirsa’s operating revenue was originally €189.7m, but fell to €156.4m after the variable rent expense of €33.3m was accounted for.
Operating revenue was also down by 56.0% compared to the €355.7m generated in Q1 2020.
Expenses brought the operating revenue down further. The cost of sales came to €8.7m, a decrease of 41.5% year on year. Personnel and gaming tax expenses, at €42.6m and €34.3m, also fell by €27.9m and €83.3m respectively. External supplies and services amounted to €42.0, a fall of 32.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020, while depreciation, amortisation and impairment costs fell slightly to €76.2m from $82.2 year on year. These expenses caused Cirsa to make a net loss of €47.6m, a significant drop of €54.2m compared to Q1 2020.
Operating profit of €26.8m was down by 67.7% compared to the profit of €88.8m in the first quarter of 2020.
Financial results costing €37.6m and foreign exchange results costing €18.0m brought the loss to €103.3m. Results on the sale of non-current assets, generating €1.6m, decreased the final profit before income tax to €101.7m.
However, income tax benefits and minority interests reduced these losses by €23.5m and €3.2m, respectively, totalling the net loss at €74.9m, which was €24.8m more than in 2020.
The operating profit was €28.6m EBITDA.
The operator explained that the drop in profit and revenue may be due to the effects of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in all of Cirsa’s markets.
“These results respond to the closures and continued restrictions on schedules and capacity derived from the pandemic, which continued to impact all markets and businesses in which the company is present during January, February and until mid-March,” it said.
Cirsa’s opening hours were reduced as a result of the pandemic.
Cirsa’s operating profit decreased by 73.3% in 2020.
