CIRSA Clears €200m Quarterly Operating Profit for the First Time in Its 72nd Straight Growth Quarter

CIRSA passed €200 million in quarterly operating profit for the first time in its history. The Spanish gaming and betting group reported €202 million (about $232 million) for the second quarter of 2026, up 8.3% year on year, on revenue of €637 million (about $731.6 million), up 10.1%. For the half year, operating profit rose 8.4% and revenue 9.1%.

The run behind it is the more striking number: this was CIRSA's 72nd consecutive quarter of operating-profit growth, an 18-year streak that covers the financial crisis, the Spanish market's regulatory overhaul and the pandemic shutdown of land-based gaming.

Growth came from both sides of the business. Spanish slots revenue rose 11.2% with EBITDA up more than 17%, the strongest margin expansion in the group. Online gaming and sports betting revenue grew 14.9%. The casinos division grew across all markets, and in Italy the company continued to outperform in the amusement-with-prizes segment while video lottery terminals held steady.

The physical estate kept expanding through the quarter. CIRSA completed five casino refurbishments, extended six gaming halls in Andalusia and Catalonia, and installed more than 700 new gaming machines. The group now runs 459 casinos, more than 85,000 gaming machines across 11 countries and roughly 2,500 sports betting points.

Acquisitions are doing visible work. CIRSA took a majority stake in Paraguay's Slots del Sol and a majority holding in Portugal's Casino Figueira, and is still integrating recently acquired businesses in Peru and Morocco. The company expects to finish the year at the upper end of its previously issued guidance.

The read across

A double-digit revenue increase driven by land-based slots is unusual in a European market where the growth narrative has belonged to online for a decade, and the 17% EBITDA jump in Spanish slots suggests operating leverage rather than only volume. That matters as a counterpoint to the pressure land-based operators are reporting elsewhere: UK gaming halls are warning that a proposed Machine Games Duty rise to 40% would close venues, while CIRSA is expanding its Spanish hall estate and adding machines.

The Spanish backdrop is favourable on volume and tightening on player protection. The country's online GGR reached €454 million in the first quarter, led by casino, while regulators have approved new deposit limits that constrain how much a customer can fund an account. CIRSA's mix, weighted toward land-based venues in Spain and Italy plus a LatAm buildout, insulates it from the online-specific measures that dominate European rulemaking.

For affiliates, the LatAm acquisitions are the line to watch rather than the Spanish numbers. Paraguay, Peru and Morocco are markets where CIRSA is buying local operating licences and estate rather than launching brands, which points to partnership and traffic opportunities appearing under existing local names rather than under a single group brand. Third-quarter results are due in the autumn.