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Portugal – Estoril Sol angered with online laws as profit falls by 95 per cent

Portuguese operator Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), which owns Estoril Sol, reported huge losses in 2014 of by 95 per cent, which it blamed on dwindling revenue and increased taxes.

Estoril, whose board includes Stanley Ho Hung Sun as Chairman, as well as Ambrose So Shu Fai, Pansy Ho Chiu King and banker Patrick Huen Wing Ming, has also been highly critical of the policies of the Portuguese Government towards the gaming sector in its annual report.

The operator, founded by Macau casino boss Stanley Ho, with a minority shareholder Amorim with 33 per cent, reported losses of €1.74m in 2014 from its three Portuguese casinos; Estoril, Lisboa and Póvoa de Varzim. This fell from a loss of €889,120 in 2013. Of the three venues, only Lisboa successfully turned a profit of €8.9m. Póvoa de Varzim, close to Oporto, reported losses of €7.15m and Casino Estoril had losses of €1.96m. Estoril Sol confirmed the losses to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission. However the situation is made clearer by the group’s revenues, which only dropped by 3.1 per cent over the year, falling from €173.6m to €168.2m. GGR in Portugal as a whole fell by two per cent to €267m meaning Estoril Sol still accounted for over 62 per cent of Portugal’s 11 strong casino market.
The board of Estpril Sol said that the taxes on gaming are high considering the economic state of Portuguese casinos.

The board stated: “The high and inadequate taxes on gaming, considering the economic situation of Portuguese casinos, have strongly conditioned the activities of the sector and Grupo Estoril operations.”

The board’s main axe to grind is with the taxes imposed on gaming, which, in the case of the casino in Póvoa de Varzim, are as high as for 65 per cent of gaming revenue, meaning to €24.2m of tax is taken from GGR of €37.2m. The operator’s property’s in Estoril and Lisbon are subjected to taxation rates of 50 per cent of the revenue.

“The less gaming revenues are generated, the more taxes have to be paid,” the board said.
It also has raised its concerns over the government’s handling of online gaming and the new legislation that will open the market up to legalised online gaming on June 28.

“The State allowed online gaming companies to operate illegally in Portugal to the point that Tourism of Portugal, the entity supervising and monitoring the Portuguese casinos, sponsored a national motorcycle racing championship in partnership with one of those illegal operators,” the operator claimed.

Concerning the new legislation on online gaming, Estoril Sol said it was dismayed that the Portuguese Government had opted to axe the exclusive right of casino operators to offer online gaming in Portugal. Estoril Sol argued that the country’s existing casino operators had already paid for this right when their gaming licences were handed out.

De Portugese regering hoopt dat het openstellen van het land als een nieuwe online gamingmarkt voldoende nationale en internationale spelers zal aantrekken om nog eens 25 miljoen euro aan belastinginkomsten binnen te halen.
De staatssecretaris van Toerisme van het land, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, bevestigde dat de gelegaliseerde online gamingsector van Portugal op 28 juni van start gaat.

De heer Nunes zei: “We bereiden alles voor zodat op 28 juni de technische controlestructuur operationeel is. We willen zoveel mogelijk operators aanmelden, vooral internationale operators.”
In maart stemde de Raad van Ministers van het land in met een wetsvoorstel om het noodzakelijke kader voor de wetgeving vast te stellen. Licentiehouders worden toegekend door toezichthouder Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa en hebben een looptijd van drie jaar. De Portugese online gamingsector zal casinospellen, sportweddenschappen, paardenraces, poker en bingo omvatten. De belasting zal worden vastgesteld tussen 15 en 30 procent voor casino-exploitanten en tussen 16 en XNUMX procent voor exploitanten van sportweddenschappen.