SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
New York-listed Chinese sports lottery operator 500.com, has reported its sixth straight quarter with no corporate revenues, as concerns continue to mount regarding the firm’s future.
500.com is still under ‘temporary’ suspension of its lottery services issued by the Chinese Ministry of Finance, who in April 2015 placed a ban on all lottery transactions via online or third party networks.
Issuing its H1 2016 update for the New York Stock Exchange, 500.com revealed that it had generated 0 revenues and earnings from its core Lottery product. The operator would further reveal incurred period losses of RMB 89.4 million (US$13.5 million).
To date the firm has this year reported combined operating losses of RMB 186 million (circa $21 million), as financial analysts speculate how long the company can survive in its current quagmire.
Since floating on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2015, 500.com has had a troubled existence. The lottery firm hit business news headlines shortly after its IPO, as NY exchange regulators accused the firm of irregularities regarding its legal and accounting requisites.
Furthermore, the operator has been sued by a number of its investors, on the grounds of misleading its NY IPO representation.
Issuing a corporate update, 500.com CEO Zhengming Pan commented on his firm’s current predicaments
“We voluntarily and temporarily suspended our online lottery sales operations in response to the promulgation of the Self-Inspection Notice. Such temporary and voluntary suspension materially and adversely impacted our financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2016,” he said. “We want to restate that the Company was one of the two entities approved by the Ministry of Finance in 2012 to provide online lottery sales services on behalf of the China Sports Lottery Administration Center.“
