Australian betting and lottery operator Tatts Group posted revenue growth in the low single digits during its fiscal H1 but cost controls and a strong online performance helped push profits up 14.6% to $139.8m.
Tatts overall wagering revenue in the six months ending Dec. 31 was basically flat at $339.2m, although earnings rose 6.4% to $91.8m. Online wagering revenue rose 13% while retail wagering fell 1.8% and phone betting slumped 12.7%. Digital operations now account for 24.8% of Tatts wagering revenue and Tatts CEO Robbie Cooke said the company was “optimistic about our potential to deliver strong growth in digital.”
In November, Tatts announced it would consolidate its Tattsbet, TAB, Tote and Tatts.com brands under the new UBET umbrella. Cooke said the first rebranded retail outlet is set to launch in early April. The rebrand will also include a “significant” marketing spend to promote the new website and mobile apps.
Tatts’ lottery operations revenue rose just 1.2% to $1.01b, but online lottery revenue rose 18%, representing 10.8% of overall lottery sales, up from 9.2% in the previous comparable period. Cost controls helped lottery earnings rise 2.4% to $161.1m.
Tatts is preparing the launch of a new Set For Life lottery, which offers players the chance to win $20k per month for 20 years. Cooke said the intention was to rope in some younger lottery players, particularly those just starting families and “looking for a life-changing outcome.”
Tatts’ gaming venue services business Maxgaming reported revenue up 1.1% to $58.8m. The Bytecraft machine services division saw revenue fall 4.5% to $51.3m and the UK-based Talarius slot machine division reported revenue up 12.3% to $59.3m.
Tatts says it has yet to book as income the $540m judgment it received from the state of Victoria over its discontinued pokies license. Two days before Christmas, Victoria appealed the ruling to the High Court of Australia. There’s no hearing scheduled for the appeal and Tatts says it will continue to treat the windfall as a current liability until it’s sure there will be no clawback.
Cooke also found time to weigh in on the ‘live baiting’ scandal plaguing the country’s greyhound racing industry, saying the hidden camera footage obtained by the Four Corners program was “awful, it is appalling, it is a situation where the industry and the regulators have let everybody down.” Cooke said the individuals involved in the practice “should be hauled up and disciplined” over their “cheating, manipulation of rules and morally bankrupt behavior.”
