Codere has announced its results for the fourth quarter and the end of 2019.

Throughout the year the group obtained operating income of 1,389.4 million euros, compared to 1,476.4 the previous year, representing a 5.9% drop, mainly due to the decrease of 90.5 million Argentina – a consequence of the depreciation of the Argentine peso against the euro (63.5%), despite the strong growth of 31.2% in local currency – partially offset by the growth of the online business (+ 34.5%), Uruguay (+ 5.1%) Italy (+ 2%) and Spain (+ 1.7%). Regarding Adjusted EBITDA.

The company reached 249.1 million euros, 11.9% below 2018. Improvements in the online unit (9.9 million euros), Spain (thanks to the optimization of its capacity and continuous improvements in performance) and the 13.5% rise in Uruguay, have been neutralized by the reduction in Argentina (23.5 million euros, due to the devaluation of the Argentine peso and the impact of the new tax 3% to the prizes won) and in Mexico (due to the greater competitive intensity and recessive environment of the country).

In the fiscal year, the net result of the company, before the application of IAS 29 and IFRS 16 was negative at 18.9 million euros. With the application of the new accounting regulations, which increases financial expenses and corporate income tax, results in a net loss of 61.7 million euros.  The capex of the year was 90.8 million euros, 44.4% below that of the previous year, and includes 72.9 million maintenance (compared to 82.1 in 2018) and 17.9 million for growth projects (63 million less than the previous year).

This significant reduction in investments, together with lower non-recurring expenses, has allowed the company to improve its cash generation to 22 million euros in 2019, compared to a use of 22.7 million in 2018.  In this way, the company closes the year with a solid treasury position of 103.1 million euros, compared to 81.8 million in 2018, which, together with the availability in its senior credit line, increase its total liquidity up to 145.4 million euros.

In terms of installed capacity, the company has decreased the number of machines by 0.4%, to 56,886 units – mainly due to the reduction in Spain – the number of gaming rooms has increased from 148 to 149, the betting terminals Sports have increased from 8,331 to 8,592 and the number of bars decreased from 9,940 to 9,345.