SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Camelot licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, reported a 6% increase of £76.8 million in profits (2013: £72.2 milllion), despite recording a fall in ticket sales and charitable contributions.
Camelot attributed its improved profits to a fall in operational expenses, despite a partial offset by a reduction in net income. The UK lottery operator had recorded a decrease in ticket sales year-on-year, with Camelot reporting £6.37 billion, down from 6.98 billion sales recorded in 2013.
Camelot senior management stated that lottery sales had been effected by a lack of roll-over weekends and a decline in sales of its EuroMillions lottery.
In contrast, scratchcards and instant win games saw an increase of 3.8%. The total amount Camelot raised for good causes fell to £1.75bn for the year, representing 26 per cent of sales, from £1.95bn for 2013, which made up 28% of total sales.
Camelot attributed the sales decline to the drop in sales for draw-based games, which return more in percentage terms than scratchcards.
Chief Executive Designate Andy Duncan commented:
“As we look forward to celebrating 20 years of the National Lottery next month, we’re determined to build on this momentum. We’ve just successfully launched a major new online and mobile platform, which is transforming the way players interact with our games across all devices. On top of that, we’ve got really exciting plans for the second half of the year.”
Duncan replaced Camelot’s outgoing Chief Executive Dianne Thompson CBE, who retired on Friday after 17 years with the firm.
