Player Protection: 
On Wednesday, 22 May 2024, study co-author Prof. Dr Christian Helmenstein and CEO Erwin van Lambaart presented the Economica study on the economic effects of the Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group in Austria.
CEO Erwin van Lambaart summarised: ‘The figures presented today clearly show the great importance of our group of companies for the whole of Austria. The high figures for value creation, employment and tax revenue speak for themselves: we are the best partner for Austria and its society for the organisation of gaming. We have been doing this very successfully for many decades and want to continue to do so in the future with significant investments and innovations in the same reliable and responsible manner. We are motivated and ready for this.’
‘The Casinos Austria Group is a very special company. The group is highly specialised, remarkably innovative, has well above-average productivity and is also very profitable. Earnings that largely benefit the tax authorities,’ adds Dr Christian Helmenstein, co-author of the study and Managing Director of the Economica Institute. ‘The importance of the Group's ecosystem goes far beyond its ordinary business activities. It generates a gross value added that corresponds to two thirds of the entire domestic pharmaceutical industry, secures employment throughout Austria, makes high annual tax payments and acts as an important anchor of stability in difficult economic times.’
The study commissioned for the year 2022 clearly shows the important and positive economic effects of the Casinos Austria Group in Austria, which were triggered by its ordinary business activities in 2022 and by its investments in the years 2010 to 2022.
Every euro generated directly generates a further 84 cents of gross value added in Austria
The direct gross value added effect of the group of companies will amount to EUR 632.3 million in 2022. Intermediary consumption generates an indirect gross value added effect of EUR 452.3 million for the group's upstream providers throughout Austria. The income of the group's employees and upstream providers is associated with (additional) consumption, which is reflected in an induced gross value added effect of EUR 78.2 million. This results in a total gross value added of 1,162.8 million euros for the Casinos Austria Group in Austria in 2022. This results in a value added multiplier of 1.84, which means that for every euro generated by the Casinos Austria Group, a further 84 cents of gross value added is created in Austria. This value is above the current average value of around 1.60 for all end-consumer product manufacturers.
High productivity and job security in Austria
The direct employment effect of the Casinos Austria Group in 2022 amounts to 2,706 jobs or 2,252 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in Austria. The indirect employment effect comprises 4,202 employment relationships (3,513 FTEs). Induced employment is 1,095 jobs (861 FTEs) linked to the activities of the Casinos Austria Group.
In 2022, a total of 8,003 employment relationships or 6,626 FTEs in Austria are therefore attributable to the operating performance of the Casinos Austria Group. This results in an employment multiplier of 2.96 (employment relationships) or 2.94 (FTEs). This means that for every 100 jobs at the Casinos Austria Group, a further 196 jobs are secured in the rest of Austria.
The productivity level of the Casinos Austria Group, measured in terms of value added per direct employment relationship, is a very high 233,700 euros, while the national and macroeconomic average is 84,000 euros.
The ongoing operations of the Casinos Austria Group also have an impact on the wage bill in Austria. The gross wages and salaries in Austria directly attributable to the Casinos Austria Group in 2022 amount to 189.3 million euros. If we also consider the wages and salaries generated through supplier relationships and extended consumption, the total effect in Austria for 2022 is 391.7 million euros.
Both productivity and wages and salaries are well above the average across all sectors. This shows that the Group has staff with above-average qualifications.
Important taxpayer and sponsoring partner
The Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group makes substantial contributions to the federal budget. The total amount of taxes and duties paid for Austria in 2022 totalled 700.7 million euros. This corresponds to around 94 per cent of the KeSt revenue of domestic corporations (EUR 758 million).
Including the taxes and duties from indirect and induced effects, the total fiscal effect of the corporate group for Austria is EUR 942 million. This figure is almost half as high as the revenue from tobacco tax (EUR 2.1 billion) and amounts to around 70 per cent of the revenue from insurance tax (EUR 1.4 billion). The Group is also an important sponsoring partner in Austria for sport, culture and social affairs.
Investments
Investment activity is also of great importance: between 2010 and 2022, the Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group made investments (adjusted for inflation on a 2022 price basis) totalling 302 million euros. This investment activity generated gross value added of 108.9 million euros in Austria.
Calculated in employment relationships, the Group's investments from 2010 to 2022 are associated with a total of 1,320 annual employment relationships (i.e. an average of around 102 employment relationships over the 13-year period) in Austria. The effects on wages and salaries throughout Austria totalled EUR 50.4 million - also measured at the price level of 2022.
Anchor of stability in difficult economic times
The effects of the Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group's ongoing operations on gross value added, employment, wages and salaries as well as taxes and duties analysed in the course of this study clearly demonstrate the important stabilising function of the Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group, even in times of economic difficulty. In the current difficult economic times, the companies in the Group act as an anchor of stability, as they both secure employment throughout Austria and make high annual tax payments.
In addition, the Group's investments will continue to be important for Austria as a business location in the future. These results therefore emphasise the importance of Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries for Austria.