Casino Operators Win With Doubling of Profits
Casino giant Stanley Leisure reported that it nearly doubled profit in the year to the end of April. However it said that big winners had fractured slightly its first-quarter win margin below budget. Pre-tax profits were 31.9 million UK Pounds jumping up 97 percent from last year.
At the beginning of the fiscal year after the July 2005 bombings, Stanley's London casino holdings suffered poor visitor turnouts and a drop in revenues. However things began to look up in the second half, bolstered by the changes to casino regulations in October.
Casinos outside London registered a record 17 percent rise in visitor attendance following the Government's loosening of casino regulations.
"This strong second half performance mitigated the impact of the disappointing first half, resulting in an operating profit for the year of 12.2 million UK Pounds, compared to 15 million UK Pounds in 2005," Stanley said of its London operations.
The numbers have been "satisfactory" but more could have been expected if not for the huge number of big winners this time around.
"There have been a number of material losses to major players, which although within normal limits, have caused our win margin for the first three months of the year to be lower than we had budgeted," the company added.
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