Chilean casinos generate $17.1m in taxes in November

The Superintendency of Gambling Casinos (SCJ), the Chilean regulator, has shared the financial results for November 2021, a month in which casinos generated $17.1m.
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The Superintendency of Gambling Casinos (SCJ), the Chilean regulator, has shared the financial results for November 2021, a month in which casinos generated $17.1m.

According to the SCJ, casinos in November were able to maintain “the recovery trend observed throughout the second semester of the year,” while the industry managed to exceed revenues from November 2019 by 14%.

Additionally, November 2021 represented the second month since the pandemic started in which the 26 authorized casinos operated with no interruptions, “a situation that has allowed the recovery of the GGR,” according to the SCJ.

The casinos authorized by Law 19.995 contributed more than $17m in taxes, exceeding the number that was reported the same month in 2020, which was also the one where they received the authorization to reopen after being forced to stop their operations due to COVID in March.

However, the most important data from the new report is that in 2021, casinos managed to exceed the levels that had been experienced in November 2019, when the pandemic had not yet hit the industry.

Out of the total taxes, $7.7m comes from a gambling tax directed to regional governments and municipalities to finance public projects. Another $7.3m comes from VAT payments on gambling revenues, while the remaining $1.7m were from the tax to enter gambling halls, sent to the general coffers.

Gross revenues reached the $55.5m figure, which is 14% higher than the number registered in November 2019 and 11 times higher than in November 2020, according to the SCJ.

“In regards to visitation, 458k people entered the 26 casinos in operation, representing a 14.5% decrease when compared to November 2019. In addition, during November 2021, we registered an average spending of $121 per visit, which implies a real increase of 39.7% compared to November 2019,” the local regulator detailed.

Although the Valparaíso region was the one with the best results in November 2021, Sun Monticello in O’Higgins was the casino that contributed the highest taxes ($4.1m). Furthermore, Enjoy Viña Del Mar and Enjoy Santiago from Valparaíso, registered $1.8m and $1.3m in taxes respectively.

The Chilean industry is set to significantly change in the upcoming months as Enjoy and Dreams have recently announced that they reached a final agreement to merge their businesses. The operation, likely to be completed in Q4 or early 2021, would result in a company that would control 58% of the industry in Chile.

Dreams shareholders will be in charge of 64% of the combined entity’s shares, while Enjoy’s will have the remaining 36%, and will eventually focus on other businesses, such as electronic games.