Shenzhen-based online sports lottery operator 500.com reported a surge in second quarter revenue thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For the three months ending June 30, the Nasdaq-listed 500.com reported revenue of RMB 156.1m (US $25.3m), a 185.4% year-on-year improvement and a sequential gain of 73.8% over Q1 2014. The World Cup also helped drive a 121% sequential gain in active users to 2.53m, which boosted sales 199% year-on-year to RMB 2.1b ($341m). Operating profit rose 436% year-on-year to RMB 59.5m ($9.6m).
500.com chairman/CEO Man San Law claimed to be pleased by the “record quarter of solid growth across the board,” including the first time that mobile devices had accounted for one-third of sales. The company boasted about 710k active mobile app users (+193%) and 1.475m active mobile website users (+124%) in Q2. 500.com is one of only two companies officially licensed to offer online sports lottery sales in China and Man says the firm will plow some of its profits back into R&D and marketing to ensure it retains its new customers and its market-leading position.
In other China lottery news, Hong Kong-listed China Vanguard Group (CVG) has inked a deal to design and implement a ‘Smart TV’ interface for a lottery sales platform. CVG and Shenzhen Qiwei Technology Development – a subsidiary of consumer electronics firm TCL Group Ltd. – haven’t set out a timeline for when their new Smart TV “lotto type and high-frequency lottery” platform might debut but they’re also working on a “paperless self-service lottery solution for Smart TVs.”
In Taiwan, Scientific Games Corporation (SGC) has inked a deal to provide instant games to the Taiwan Lottery Co. (TLC). CTBC Financial Holdings, which controls the TLC, says the deal represents its plan to expand the Taiwan Public Welfare Lottery’s instant product offering and thus “further engage and entertain players.” SGC, which has agreed to provide the Lottery with games, licensed properties and marketing services, won the two-year contract following a formal procurement process. The deal took effect this June and could be extended for a further two years.
