Leicester Square’s Hippodrome Casino reports falling profits
Leicester Square’s Hippodrome Casino saw profits halve last year as political and economic uncertainty dented gamblers’ confidence.
Revenue slumped from £77.8m to £76.5m and operating profit dropped from £5.5m to £2.1m last year, according to the casino operator’s latest financial filings.
Read more:
Hippodrome, which is the UK’s largest “international-style” casino, blamed the decline on the 2018 heatwave, slow economic growth and Brexit uncertainty.
“The UK casino market was challenging in 2018,” the directors said in a statement.
“A long, hot summer, increased regulatory and political pressure, slow economic growth and weakened consumer confidence in the face of Brexit combined to make growth difficult.”
In total, 1.7m customers visited the central London casino in 2018, an increase of four per cent on the previous year.
Read more:
Hippodrome, which opened in 1900 for circus and theatre performances, refurbished its theatre space last year for the Magic Mike Live show.
The show, produced by US actor Channing Tatum, had the sixth largest ticket sale advance in West End history – offsetting some of the impact of the challenging market conditions.
Since the theatre opened in November it has run at 100 per cent capacity and introduced more than 65,000 new customers to the business, the company said.