Codere appoints Sánchez Serrano to lead digitalisation

Gambling group Codere has named Luis Sánchez Serrano as its new corporate director of technology and digitalisation.

Sánchez Serrano, who will report to group chief executive Vicente Di Loreto, is a newcomer to the gambling industry, having spent most his professional career in banking.

His previous roles include senior positions with Liberbank, Bankinter and Banco Espirito Santo, in which he focused on transformation projects, innovation and digitalisation of each organisation. 

“This appointment strengthens our team and consolidates the strategy of change and transformation undertaken in our group to continue fulfilling our commitment to the client and creating value,” Di Loreto said.

The addition of Sánchez Serrano to the senior team comes after Codere in April announced a series of changes to its organisational structure to help simplify management processes and give more accountability to regional divisions.

Codere said the new structure will allow the group to improve its operational capabilities and improve the efficiency of its management processes, with the idea of giving more prominence to certain sections of the business and strengthening functional areas.

In May, Codere reported a year-on-year decline in revenue during the first quarter, despite seeing growth across its Mexican, Italian, Spanish and online operations.

Operating revenue in the three months to March 31, 2019 amounted to €357.7m (£323.3m/$401.2m), down 6.7% on the €383.3m of the first quarter of 2018, with Codere citing the devaluation of the Argentine Peso as the primary reason behind this decline.