PMU posts record results despite purchasing power crisis

The horse racing betting company has collected a little more than 10 billion euros in stakes in 2023. A threshold that the operator has not crossed since 2013.

It is the return of growth after the pandemic, a movement already started in 2022. A sum of small bets through the different channels (digital via the Internet, points of sale, PMU tobacco bars) and, at the end of the account, a more than appreciable profit. The PMU has just opened its 14,000^e point of sale in France, a reason for satisfaction for the young general director of the group, Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet, who took the reins of PMU less than two years ago. She sees an evolution in the brand’s image with the return to a need for conviviality and human contact which does not exist behind the screens.

No impact of inflation

Inflation has not discouraged small bettors, on the contrary. The very popular betting games are often an escape from the prevailing economic gloom with purchasing power at half mast but also a hope of winning with a few euros at the base. Over one year, activity increased by 2% and PMU posted a net profit of 835 million euros.

Ten billion euros of stakes over 2023 for a final profit of 835 million. Where did the rest of the money go? First of all, 75% of the stakes are returned to punters in the form of winnings, then 9% goes to the entire horse racing industry which employs 60,000 people in France and which maintains 235 racecourses with just over 27,000 horses. , for 18,000 races organized each year. Finally, 9% of the stakes are returned to the State and the rest, if any, constitutes the company’s profit. Born in 1930, Paris Mutuel Urbain is what we call a GIE (Economic Interest Group) made up of around sixty racing companies.

The activity is increasingly controlled and regulated by the authorities to avoid addiction phenomena. The National Gaming Authority wants, in fact, to better identify players, including minors who are numerous to bet. The objective is to put an end to the anonymity that prevails today at points of sale. You may soon have to show your ID card to bet on your favorite horse or fill out a Lotto grid at the counter.