Dutch state gambling monopoly Holland Casino booked net profit of €12m last year, after posting a loss of €22m in 2013.

The improvement is due to a reorganisation and reverses a seven-year downward trend, the company said. The improvement is partly due to the decision to place fruit machines in smoking zones. There was a slight increase in revenue from cards and roulette.

Last January the company, which is 100% state owned, said it was cutting its workforce by 150 to 200, on top of earlier job losses which ran into hundreds.

The government said last year it plans to sell the Casino group, which operates 14 casinos. Ten would be sold off in one lot, the other four as individual casinos.