Scientific Games released sluggish figures for Q3 as revenue growth slowed to less than 1%. Last year’s figure of $221.1million was up to $222.7m with operating income dropping from $21.7m to $21.4m. This year saw them get rid of their racing business to Sportech and if you exclude that from last year’s results, the increase in revenue is a healthier 17% from $190.9m. None of this dampened the mood of optimism, chairman and CEO A. Lorne Weil commenting: “Our global lottery and gaming operations performed very well this quarter, with mid-teens growth in revenue. We believe this reflects the investments we’ve made in the past year in our key growth initiatives. We are especially pleased with these results in the face of a quarter that was marked by significant global economic uncertainty. The strength of our recession-resistant business model is borne out in challenging economic times like these, and the pipeline of new opportunities often expands as lotteries and other businesses seek new sources of revenue.”
The results come shortly after subsidiary The Global Draw launched its electronic instant ticket scheme in Jersey. It means the island is the first in Europe to sell tickets via machines that are available across the island. Alan MacLean, the island’s minister for economic development, said: “We’re thrilled to officially launch electronic instant tickets, which will not only make playing the lottery more accessible and fun but also has the potential to boost contributions to Jersey charities that so desperately need the extra support.”
Jersey is the only place in the only channel islands with legislation allowing for the terminals. In your face Alderney and Guernsey!
Online sports betting spared Fortuna Entertainment Group’s blushes as the group as a whole was slightly disappointing in Q3. Online gross win for sports betting was up 31.3% to just over €6m. Costs linked to their Czech lottery start-up affected the balance sheet with EBITDA declining by 58.4%. CEO Jiří Bunda commented: “In the third quarter our sports betting business continued to grow due to a strong performance of online segment, despite a lack of attractive sports events this year. The further development of on-line segment of sports betting business is crucial for our future performance. The expansion of on-line betting has been strongly supported by our existing retail network which significantly contributed to its success. We are fully focused on additional enhancement of our existing on-line and retail sports betting services. We also hope that we will be able to start providing on-line betting in Poland based on local licence very soon.”
They’re hoping to have set up shop in Poland by January as long as government approval is given and they already have 12,000 registered subscribers ready to play.
