China lottery games, hardware and systems supplier AGTech Holdings Limited enjoyed a 45.7% year-on-year revenue gain in the first half of 2015.
In a filing on Tuesday, AGTech posted revenue of HK$101.1 million ($13m) in the six months ending June 30th, up from HK$69.4 million ($8.9m) in H1 2014, on sales of new hardware and technical services.
“Most of the revenue was derived from gaming technologies (game software, systems, hardware and terminals) business and provision of sports lottery management and marketing consultancy services in the PRC,” said AGTech. “The increase in revenue was attributable to the sales of newly added hardware and technical services.”
The company also narrowed its loss from HK$88.9 million ($11.4m) in the prior year period to HK$54.6 million ($7m).
The loss was attributed to share-based payments worth about HKD31.2 million, after granting share options to directors, eligible employees and participants; major expenses including staff, office and research and development costs; and consolidation of expenses following completion of the acquisition of Score Value Limited on 8 January 2015.
AGTech owns a majority of AGT, the joint venture with UK bookies Ladbrokes, which runs the virtual sports lottery games e-Ball Lottery and Lucky Racing in Jiangsu and Hunan provinces.
Zoom Read, AGTech’s hardware division, supplies lottery hardware to 29 provinces, cities and municipalities in mainland China and has machines operating live or on trial in markets including South Africa, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria and Canada.
“AGTech is continuing to pursue international opportunities for its hardware and currently the Group is in active discussions with a number of potential international customers and/or distributors,” said the company.
Chinese authorities suspended online lottery sales in April, a move that has had nasty effects on other companies such as 500.com Ltd. AGTech said it does not provide online lottery sales or maintain any website to conduct such sales in mainland China but the company is expecting “significant regulatory progress in the China lottery industry.”
“Based on accurate interpretation of national regulations and policies, we have successfully grasped industry trends and consistently formulated our long-term and stable strategic positioning and business development strategies over many years,” said AGTech.
“We believe that, following the regulatory evolution of the Chinese lottery industry and relying upon our competitive advantages formed in game development and channel construction, we are well-positioned to achieve a significant breakthrough in business development in the near future.”
