Record six months for Société des Bains de Mer

Jean-Luc Biamonti, SBM Chairman and CEO, expressed his satisfaction as he prepares to hand over to Stéphane Valeri.

“Things don’t just happen by themselves.” Speaking to the press at the prestigious Hôtel Hermitage, Jean-Luc Biamonti, Chairman and CEO of SBM, announced the Company’s excellent results for the period from 1 April to 30 September 2022, confirming a record-breaking six months for the company.

“We always used to say that we had six good months and six difficult months, but for two years now we have had very good months in October,” commented Jean-Luc Biamonti. And with good reason: between good weather and catching up on events that were  postponed because of Covid-19, SBM has just reported a particularly exceptional month of October in all sectors, and especially in hotel and catering.

“The figures are sky-high,” said Jean-Luc Biamonti, mentioning in passing the work done by Pascal Camia, formerly Gaming Director and now Director of Casino, Hotel & Restaurant Operations. “The property market has also been very good, with the entire stock rented out.”

Even better results than before Covid

The company’s turnover was up over the period from €311.4 million in 2021/2022 to €432.3 million this year. Another noteworthy fact is that the figures are even better than in the pre-Covid period, as turnover for the 2019/2020 financial year is estimated at €408.6 million.

“We used to make a profit in the first six months and a loss in the last six. Today, we make money in the first six months and we hardly lose any in the second,” continued Jean-Luc Biamonti.

This increase is due in particular to the sale of the stake in the Betclic Everest Group, which yielded a profit of more than 820 million euros. At the same time, Covid-19-related staff restructuring, leading to an increase in the number of seasonal staff and a decrease in the number of permanent staff, as well as the closure of the Sun Casino (and therefore the end of its rental costs) contributed greatly to these record figures.

Excellent foundations for the future tenure of Stéphane Valéri, who will take over as head of the group on 3 April 2023. “Our cooperation is going well, we attend all the meetings together. We conduct a review of ongoing matters once a week,” emphasises Jean-Luc Biamonti, who is handing over the reins after many years as Chairman of the group.

The Chairman takes a positive view of his own tenure, during which he believes he kept to the roadmap he was given. There are still major projects that Stéphane Valéri will have to continue to lead or even initiate, such as taking over the running of the Meridien and the Sporting d’été, two large-scale projects that are still in the SBM’s plans.