Spain’s Q2 GGR drops by more than 5% year-on-year

September 14, 2022 Europe Emerging Markets Industry Updates

Spain’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) has remained virtually flat on a sequential basis, amounting to €203.9m ($207.3m) for Q2.

Spanish gaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has published its latest revenue report, highlighting no growth on a quarter-over-quarter basis and a modest decrease in GGR year-on-year.

When compared to Q1, the country’s top line revenue shrank by less than 1%. However, when compared to last year’s second quarter, Spain’s GGR experienced an over 5% drop.

This shortfall can be largely attributed to a decrease in betting revenue, which recorded a 7% drop when compared to Q1 but a 34% drop on a year-over-year basis.

Eduardo Morales Hermo, a Senior Gambling, Betting & Business Consultant at Ficom Leisure, credited this downturn to a low margin, which “worsened slightly this quarter.”

While the turnover or bets placed, he said, rose by 10%, “it is the margin which is penalising” the profitability of this vertical.

However, Spain’s casino sector partially offset betting’s decline. This segment experienced an over 5% revenue increase quarter-on-quarter, alongside a positive annual variation rate of approximately 17%.

“The second quarter of 2022 followed the same trend as the first quarter because the GGR was practically the same thanks to the strength of the casino verticals that continue a healthy growth,” wrote Hermo.

Looking ahead, he expressed some optimism, commenting: “The performance of these two first quarters of 2022 shows an improvement that allows us to project an increase in GGR for the total year if it continues this trend, even though it might not improve the 2020 record high.”