PROFITABILITY AND LIQUIDITY OF ITALIAN GAMBLING COMPANIES: QUANTITATIVE PROFILES BEFORE AND DURING THE PANDEMIC FOR COVID-19
One might think that the pandemic had a devastating effect on gambling businesses, due to the long-time closures of arcades. This could have also damaged public finances, considering the revenue from taxes and duties, the fact that the serious social risks due to possible deviance. This research analyses the economic and financial dynamics of Italian gambling companies between the two major international crises, while also trying to verify possible relations with the general economic cycle. Research methods. The financial statement data of about 1200 firms with a turnover of more than€800,000, for the 2009-2020 decade, were analysed, illustrating the average trends of Roa and Quick Ratio, for Italy and each of its macro-areas (North, Centre, and South). The data have been subjected to statistical processing. The Anova and Tukey-Kramer methods were used for comparison between macro-regions. The results show that the companies in the sample have an irregular but always positive and increasing ROA, with some exceptions. There are no significant differences between the varioust geographical areas. An excellent short-term financial situation is evident everywhere, with increasing and sometimes excessive cash balances. This study complements the economic literature on gambling companies, which is lacking. It confirms some of the findings of other scholars who have already highlighted the reduction in profitability during crises, when other authors have highlighted similar profitability trends in other sectors. This quantitative research highlights the high earnings that justify proliferation of gambling companies. Public policies should be attentive to the sector that complements national GDP, but can generate serious social pathologies. In the theoretical profile, the aggregation of balance sheets used, however, organised, can prospectively become a useful model for interpreting complex phenomena.