CIRSA stands by global portfolio despite €255 million loss

Grupo CIRSA, Spain’s largest gambling operator, has published its 2020 financial accounts, revealing group-wide operating losses of €255 million. 

CIRSA, which is fully owned by US private equity fund Blackstone Group, cites that its financial performance had ‘rebounded’ during the second half of 2020 trading, as the company posted a better than anticipated full-year EBITDA of €126 million.

Nevertheless, CIRSA financial performance was drained following the enforced H1 closure of its betting point sales network, bingo and gaming hall venues across Spain and South America.

Dire circumstances saw the firm’s full-year group revenues fall below the €1 billion mark to €840 million, as the gambling group faced operating restrictions across its nine active markets.

Despite its Covid woes, the operator states that it has begun 2021 trading positively following a group-wide restructuring which secured the company a working capital increase of €283 million.

In its financial statement, CIRSA underlined that it was pursuing all options to return its businesses to normalised trading during 2021 ‘as quickly as possible‘.  

The gambling group stressed its commitment to maintaining all commercial units afloat – stating that its portfolio of betting POS, gaming lounges, bingo hall and arcade venues would remain unchanged across Spain and South America.

Supporting its reopening objectives, CIRSA has launched a new €6 million ‘Play it Safe’ directive, which will see the company upgrade the public safety and sanity provisions of its global gaming venues.