Grupo CIRSA continues to tell a “unique and attractive story” to international markets as the gambling PLC seeks new opportunities to achieve organic growth, profits, and a strong balance sheet.
In the ten months following its listing on the Bolsa Madrid Exchange, CIRSA has delivered record-breaking Q1 accounts, which have helped reassure investors that it is the standout gambling PLC in the European ranks.
The Blackstone-backed gambling group posted Q1 net profit of €44.6m, up 59% year-on-year, alongside record quarterly revenues of €623m and EBITDA of €193.9m – as leadership proclaimed “71 consecutive quarters of growth” – excluding the COVID-19 period.
Record profits, lower financing costs and a rapidly improving debt profile have strengthened management’s confidence that “CIRSA has reached a new platform of growth and dominance in markets it operates in”.
Debt shave
Yet beneath the headline figures lies perhaps the company’s most significant development of 2026: its leadership has reduced net debt to approximately €2bn. This reflects a strategic €500m reduction taken in Q1 to provide management with the ‘economic flexibility’ it needs to pursue expansion opportunities.
Antonio Hostench, CIRSA CEO, said that the group is actively assessing new strategic opportunities across both established and untapped markets: “There might be some temporary increase, but we would quickly return to levels of 2.5 times EBITDA or lower.
Hostench added that CIRSA is evaluating “complementary acquisitions in Latin America, Spain, Italy and Morocco”, while also “exploring new geographies” across Western Europe and the Americas via both online and land-based gambling operations.
The CEO further underlined his confidence in the opportunities “already identified by management could begin materialising during 2026”.
For leadership, the strategy appears to be straightforward: reduce debt first, then accelerate growth.
The strengthened financial position comes as Chairman Joaquim Agut intensifies efforts to convince markets that CIRSA remains Europe’s most overlooked gambling PLC – a message that has consistently been repeated since the start of 2026 trading.
Agut: CIRSA undervalued amongst PLC ranks
“CIRSA is severely undervalued,” Agut told shareholders at the company’s inaugural AGM at the start of the year.
The Chairman argued that broader sentiment towards listed gambling companies has created a disconnect between share prices and operational performance.
“The company’s stock market performance does not reflect its operational reality,” Agut stated, arguing that sector-wide market pressures – rather than CIRSA’s execution – continue to weigh heavily on valuation.
Despite CIRSA cementing its position as Spain’s largest gambling company and reporting FY2025 EBITDA of €736m, shares have largely traded between €13 and €14 since listing, below the company’s €15 IPO price.
Agut pointed specifically to the rise of prediction betting products in the US and increased gambling taxes across key European markets, including the UK, as factors that have placed significant pressure on gambling stocks of listed companies more broadly.
“The IPO allowed the company to reduce its financial burden while maintaining a high level of investment to support growth, alongside lower debt and the continuation of a strong shareholder return policy,” Agut added.
Operationally, CIRSA believes that it continues to outperform its peers. Retail casinos, slots and arcades remain the group’s earnings engine, materially outperforming online gaming revenues and providing stability against market volatility witnessed in South American jurisdictions.
Combined with lower financing costs and improved leverage metrics, management believes CIRSA enters the second half of 2026 from a position of strength.
Blackstone Moves
Attention will inevitably turn to the majority shareholder, Blackstone, which continues to control approximately 75% of CIRSA’s equity. Spanish investors remain focused on whether the private equity giant intends to gradually dilute its majority ownership position.
For dealmakers, intrigue surrounds CIRSA’s main Spanish market rival Codere SA, as investors seek to execute an ambitious sale of the company at a target value of €2bn. The sale of Codere could forge the gateway for CIRSA’s next M&A play at home in Spain or abroad.
Madrid analysts have suggested that CIRSA could trigger a deal to expand its presence in Italy’s new online gambling regime or seek further M&A opportunities in the South American markets of either Brazil or Chile – dependent on the proceeding regulatory outcomes of 2026.
Spanish licence holders continue to prepare for increased compliance obligations under the supervision of the DGOJ, as policymakers strengthen consumer protections and mandatory duty-of-care obligations.
Yet, unlike several major European jurisdictions, Spain has avoided introducing additional gambling taxes … for now.
Against a backdrop of tightened regulations, investor caution, and sector volatility, CIRSA is attempting to position itself differently relative to European PLC counterparts as debt has fallen, profits are rising, and M&A appetite returns to the top table.
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