France’s land-based casino industry reported modest revenue growth in fiscal 2017, although the gains were concentrated among a shrinking number of casinos.
Overall gaming revenue at France’s 200 brick-and-mortar casinos totaled €2.29b in fiscal 2017, a modest 2.4% improvement over fiscal 2016’s result. However, only 117 casinos posted individual year-on-year gains in 2017 compared to 137 who enjoyed forward momentum the year before.
Casino operator Lucien Barrière claimed the lion’s share of last year’s revenue pie, with its fiscal 2017 total rising 3.6% to €695m. Groupe Partouche ranked second with €540m (+0.35%) while Joa ranked third with €211m (+3.2%).
Luciene Barrière claimed four of the top-five performing casino venues, and six of the top-10. The company’s (and the nation’s) top earner, Enghien-les-Bains (pictured), the closest major gaming venue to the casino-free capital Paris, saw revenue rise 4% to €169.6m.
Groupe Partouche’s top-performing venue was its Aix-en-Provence casino, which ranked fourth overall with €46m (-1%). The top independent casino in Evian ranked no higher than 18th with €25.7m.
Slots were the overwhelming engine of France’s casino market, accounting for nearly 85% of all gaming revenue. However, the €1.92b in slots revenue was down 1.5% from fiscal 2016’s total.
Table game revenue was essentially flat year-on-year at €202.2m, with the top-performing games being English Roulette (€72.1m), blackjack (€67.2m) and punto banco (€14.5m).
Electronic table game revenue shot up nearly one-quarter year-on-year to €144.6m, representing 6.3% of overall gaming revenue. All but a tiny sliver of electronic table revenue came via electronic English Roulette.
The traditional bowling style game la boule, which is still offered by nearly one-quarter of the nation’s casinos, rounded out the games revenue chart with just over €2.2m.
