MGA report shines a light on COVID impact
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) published its Annual Report and audited Financial Statements for 2020 where they highlight major projects and outline performance
Starting off with licensed companies in the country, both online and land-based, the total stood at 323 at the end of 2020. These 323 companies held a total of 328 gaming licences and 357 game-type approvals. The MGA received a total of 58 applications for gaming licences whilst 68 licences were issued, 29 gaming applications were rejected or withdrawn, 12 licences cancelled and another 3 suspended due to various regulatory breaches.
The Gross Value added of the industry for the year was estimated at €924 million. This means that gaming is no longer one of the top three contributors to Malta’s economy. The MGA collected a total of €73.5 million in terms of compliance contribution fees, levies and consumption tax, whilst creating an estimated FTE 8,300 jobs.
The total employment in the gaming sector in Malta was estimated to be 12,398 in 2020, which accounts for about 4.7% of the country’s total workforce. Interestingly, the MGA note in their report that ‘planned investments and recruitment by a small number of large firms’ is why growth is still present.
Land-based casinos understandably took a big hit during the pandemic, and after their reopening in June 2020 they saw their registrations drop from 175,433 in 2019 to 55,676 in 2020. Local visitors also dropped from 940,766 to 471,862. Apart from brick-and-mortar venues, sportsbooks also took a hit with the halting of sporting events.
This did not stop other online outlets as there was a general increase in demand. Companies offering online services grew to 314 by the end of 2020 from 284 in 2019, whilst their active player accounts grew by 18.1%. A rate which MGA says is ‘very much the same pace of earlier years’. The total number of new active player accounts stood at 15.9 million.
‘The year 2020 will undoubtedly be remembered for the challenges the pandemic presented us with, and I am proud of the Authority’s employees who we worked tirelessly to ensure that we continued to perform the functions required of us at law,’ MGA CEO Dr Carl Brincat said in the report.
‘Keeping the ship steady during a challenging year serves as a strong foundation for us to look ahead with renewed commitment to keep building on the positives and improve on our shortcomings, to reach new heights in our regulatory approach.’
Read the full report here: https://www.mga.org.mt/the-mga-publishes-its-2020-annual-report-and-financial-statements
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