Euroslot-JUL-AUG09-PG14:Layout 1 02/07/2009 09:41 Page 14
EUROPEAN NEWS - SPAIN www.euroslot-online.com
Cirsa increases its profits Gigames presents GigaVegas
T
he Cirsa Gaming Corporation has
presented its results up to March of the T
he commercial launch of the GigaVegas machine, the most recent
creation of Conei’s Industrial Division, which was presented at the
present financial year. Cirsa has recorded an Andalusian Fair in Málaga, took place in Barcelona and Valencia last
operating revenue of 411 million euros, with month. With the image of Elvis Presley as backdrop, emulating the
an operating profit of 52 million euros, spectacular atmosphere of the Las Vegas casinos,  Gigames has
which represents a growth of 9%  over the attempted to transfer into the bars and restaurants the attraction that
same period of the previous year. comes from combining a traditional machine with the new technological
All the divisions of the Group have trend of incorporating a video screen. tGigavegas is a mixed machine
collaborated in attaining the objective, which, before it was launched,  has been subjected over the last few
particularly the B2B Division which is months to an intense period of testing in different places in those
continuing to consolidate its share of the autonomous regions where the medium of video has already been
market in Spain now standing at 54%. For authorized in the legislation. Ferrán Blanco, the Director General of
its part, the Casino Division continues to Gigames, stated at the Málaga Fair, “We feel proud to have, at this
grow in Latin America, especially in moment, the best machine on the market.” At the presentation in
Argentina, Panama and Venezuela, with Barcelona Ferrán confirmed the results obtained by GigaVegas and
eleven extended rooms, 42 more gaming added, “One has to know how to take advantage of the occasion and
tables and 1,300 gaming machines. Lastly, this is superb for the operators who want to beat the crisis.”
the Operational Division has stabilized its results, in spite of the weakness in the
Spanish market, opening 13 new arcades, which now brings the total number to
122. In this area of the business receipts in Italy grew by 3% in comparison with
the same period last year. As regards sports betting, Sportium is making good
progress in the Madrid Autonomous region with 65 points of sale, contributing to
the stabilization of the results. Among the projects underway for this year we
should mention the re-opening of the Bingo Estación in Cádiz, the conclusion of
first stage of remodelling the Marbella Casino and work on a new Casino in
Valencia whose opening is planned for next year.
XIV Cofar Congres
T
he XIV Cofar Congress took place in June in the Intercontinental Hotel in
Madrid. Once again this year it saw the gathering of the most
representative Associations in the Spanish Private Gaming Sector. Several
papers were presented to the Congress during the day. Distinguished speakers
together with various legislators analyzed the current market situation. The
President of Cofar, Manuel Lao Hernández, together with the President of the
CIRSA Group, welcomed everyone and asked the Administration to be more
sympathetic to the companies in the sector and to be much tougher on the
prize draws that are currently flooding Spanish television and since they are
not being regulated are, without any doubt, the worst sort of competition for
the businesses in the Spanish gaming sector. All the speakers made repeated
reference to the global crisis that we are suffering. Nor was there a single
speaker who did not mention on-line gaming and random draws which are not
subject to taxation and controls, unlike all the current machines in the market.
The EU condemns Spain
The first paper, followed by a group discussion, was chaired by the director of
the Egartronic Group, Erwan Lévéder, and tackled “The present and future
outlook for arcade games in Spain”. The most important comment was that
made by Isabel Fernández, representing the Vid Group and President of the T
he European Union has condemned Spain for not regulating the lotteries and
random combinations and commercial draws which are being developed at
Association of Leisure Centres, who emphasized the necessity to update the the present time. In this regard, the central Administration and the autonomous
legal and fiscal measures that restrain this activity. In the second paper, “The communities must act immediately to regulate aspects such as the deceptive
importance of optimism both during the crisis and always”, the speaker was the publicity and the use of lotteries and random combinations for commercial gain,
engineer Leopoldo Abadía, teacher and author of  the book “The NINJA crisis” following the sentence by the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which has
(no incomes, no jobs or assets) who explained in didactic terms how the condemned the Spanish State for not transposing the Directive from the
present world-wide crisis developed and in good humour, how to overcome it European Parliament and the Council dated 11th May 2005 on unfair commercial
with stoicism.  The general coordinator of Cofar, José Sánchez Fayos, was the practices of companies in their relations with the consumers in the internal
moderator in the session on “The short term challenges for the sector” and, market. This sentence once again demonstrates the scant activity of the Sectorial
after lunch, the President of Facomare and ex-president of Euromat, Eduardo Commission on Gaming. The last meeting held by this Commission was in June
Antoja, chaired a group discussion in which most of representatives of the 2008 in Barcelona. At that the regulators were in fact urged to adopt measures
Autonomous Governments who were invited to the Congress, participated. in respect of the content of the sentence, which was also reiterated at the Cofar
Congress, scarcely a month ago.
14
JULY/AUGUST 2009
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