No impact from virus for Sazka Group

Lottery specialist Sazka Group has found no “material interruption to business continuity” from the Covid-19 pandemic, although it has had an ongoing impact on the operations, says the company in a footnote to its annual report for 2019.

The company said: “Different products and geographies have been affected to varying degrees by the outbreak, with online sales performing strongly.

“Currently, many of the restrictions to which our physical retail network has been subject are being gradually and to various degrees lifted. As of March 31, 2020, the cash balances of the company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries were €100m. On April 23, 2020, the group received a €49m dividend from Lottoitalia.”

For the year to end December 2019, the GGR increased by six per cent to €1.9bn and consolidated EBITDA increased 17 per cent to €592m. Profit for the year post-tax was up 35 per cent to €311m.