Stadtcasino Baden celebrates Annual General Meeting after three years of interruptions due to coronavirus
Press release dated June 4, 2022
Stadtcasino Baden AG held its Annual General Meeting on Friday at Trafo Baden. The meeting was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Grand Casino Baden. A great deal of focus was also given to the strategy for the upcoming new license applications. An additional member was elected to the Board of Directors, which was Anita Zatti.
As it was the first in-person Annual General Meeting of the Group in three years, Chairman of the Board of Directors Jürg Altorfer opened the meeting with fireworks – albeit only as a video recording. He reminded attendees that the beginning of July will mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Grand Casino Baden. He promised this would be a reason to celebrate.
Eventful financial year
In his recap, Altorfer emphasized that even a licensed business such as operating a casino does not mean that management can sit back and trust that “things will just work out”.
“The last few years alone have seen significant changes,” explained Altorfer. “The last time we met here, before the coronavirus outbreak, the launch of online casinos was still just around the corner. Now, three years later, we are a completely changed company – almost a technology company.”
Altorfer was referring in particular to the fact that, in the previous financial year, the Stadtcasino Baden Group left the Gamanza Group and took over two business units of Gamanza in full. With GaminGenius, the Gamanza Group provides a platform for online casinos and is already the market leader in Switzerland.
New licensing round
Looking ahead, Altorfer explained the Group’s strategy for the new licensing round and stressed that this process must be taken seriously. It is expected that there will be around 50 applications for the 23 licenses put out for tender, meaning it’s all or nothing.
The Group therefore intends to submit an application not only for Baden, but also for Locarno and Solothurn. Altorfer added that the very extensive tender documents had only been received two days ago, which now had to be evaluated in detail. While Locarno is explicitly bidding for a B license and Baden is explicitly bidding for an A license, Solothurn falls into a zone with Bern for which only one A license is to be issued.
Anita Zatti joins Board of Directors
The previous members of the Board of Directors were elected for a further two-year term without discussion. Anita Zatti was newly admitted to the Board of Directors. She is a proven specialist in the field of IT security and risk management, but also in the management of software development, integration and change management. “This is exactly what we need for the future,” summarized Jürg Altorfer, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Like all other members of the Board of Directors, Zatti works as a part-time employee for Stadtcasino Baden AG. Her main role is as Head of Information Security and IT Risk Management at Swiss Life Asset Managers AG in Zurich.
The other items on the agenda were also decided by a large majority in line with the proposals of the Board of Directors – including, in particular, the increase of the dividend from CHF 25 to CHF 30. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Altorfer, made it clear that the increase must be seen as a “celebratory five francs” and thus a one-off.
Oesch’s die Dritten as main event
Following the statutory part of the meeting, the celebratory program continued, which has always been very popular with the Group’s shareholders. Shareholders were invited to enjoy refreshments at the various themed food stands set up in the large Trafo Hall, where they finally had the chance to play a game or two. Table games such as blackjack, roulette and Big Win were set up in one of the Trafo halls, where shareholders could try out the games without risk by betting one of the free chips without gambling any money.
The highlight of the evening, however, was the performance by the band Oesch’s die Dritten, which, like the Grand Casino, is celebrating its 25th anniversary on stage this year. The family group led by singer and yodeler Melanie Oesch created an atmosphere in the hall from the very first note and their performance further consolidated the fact that the Annual General Meetings of the Stadtcasino Baden Group have long been established as social event. Or as one shareholder put it, “as a pensioner, you get to attend a few Annual General Meetings, but this one is one of the best.”
Note to editors:
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Contact for inquiries:
Stadtcasino Baden AG
Communications & PR
Patrick Senn
Haselstrasse 2
5400 Baden, Switzerland
patrick.senn@scbgroup.com
+41 (0) 79 869 70 75