Eastern European casino operator Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) reported flat profits in Q1 following the closure of its Polish operations, just as a rival operator moves into OEG’s former Warsaw digs.
OEG’s gaming operations generated revenue of €51.5m in the three months ending March 31, 5.3% higher than the same period last year, while earnings rose 9.6% to €9.8m and profits were flat at €5.6m.
OEG enjoyed revenue gains across all its markets, with Latvia’s 54 gaming venues rising 3.2% to €16.5m, while Estonia’s 24 venues shot up 30% to €12.4m. Italy ranked third on the revenue chart with €7.9m, followed by Lithuania (€7m), Slovakia (€4.5m) and Malta (€3.1m).
OEG recently closed its operations in Belarus and Poland, and while Belarus was a non-entity in OEG’s overall revenue pie, OEG’s lone Polish casino generated revenue of €4.6m in Q1 2016. OEG’s Warsaw Olympic Casino Sunrise, which had been in business for nine years, had its license renewal rejected by Poland’s Ministry of Finance last September over OEG’s apparent failure to submit its paperwork on time.
However, OEG’s old Polish digs won’t be empty for too much longer. Last week, Century Casinos’ subsidiary Casinos Poland announced that it had received approval from the Ministry of Finance to transfer the company’s second Warsaw casino license to the Warsaw Hilton, the former home of Olympic Casino Sunrise.
The current home of Casinos Poland’s second Warsaw operation is the LIM Center, a rather cramped abode of less than 3k square feet. By contrast, the Hilton casino will boast a gaming floor of over 17k square feet, enough to contain 24 gaming tables and 70 electronic gaming machines.
Century Casinos is understandably bullish on the prospects of its new Warsaw operation, which it hopes to open later this quarter following renovation.
