Digital growth helps Camelot achieve record half-year

National Lottery operator Camelot UK has celebrated its 25th year in operations by recording a 13.5% growth in the total number of National Lottery tickets sold over the first half of its 2019/20 financial year. 

Publishing figures for the period 1 April to 28 September 2019, the lottery operator generated £876.8m (excluding investment returns) for Good Causes, £83.6m more than in the first half of 2018/19.

Updating stakeholders, Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said: “It’s 25 years to the day since we started selling tickets for that first Lotto draw, and our record half-year performance clearly shows that The National Lottery is in its best-ever shape. 

“Not only are sales up across the board, but we’ve also delivered over £3.2bn to Good Cause projects, players and retailers in just six months – underlining the incredible difference that, over two decades on, The National Lottery continues to make to the lives of people and communities throughout the UK.”

Over the same period, Camelot also awarded £2,238.4m in prizes to players, £265.3m more than last year. The group celebrated its contribution to more than 565,000 individual projects, highlighting that it ‘continues to to return around 95% of all revenue to winners and society’. 

Camelot identified its growth across its digital platforms as a key driver of growth for the group, recording ‘record online sales of £1,164.1m – an increase of £332.7m – breaking the £1bn mark for the first time for the half-year.’ 

Mobile sales now account for 65% of sales for the lottery operator, with Camelot noting a growth of £317.4m over the period with figures hitting an ‘all-time high’ of £749m. Meanwhile, draw-based games increased by £300.3m to £2,261m which has been attributed to an increased focus in game diversification.

Railton continued: “We’re continuing to make excellent progress on reinvigorating The National Lottery brand to make it more relevant and visible by more effectively communicating the uniqueness of The National Lottery and by working closely with the wider National Lottery family on successful initiatives such as #ThanksToYou and National Lottery Cinema Day, which recognise the all-important contribution of players to a huge range of projects across the UK.

“More recently, we’ve all worked together to run some incredible 25th birthday activities across the UK – featuring famous faces and well-known National Lottery-funded landmarks – to celebrate everything that’s been made possible thanks to National Lottery players over the last 25 years.

“Although there is much work still to do, we’ve made a fantastic start to our 25th year and, with the exciting plans we have lined up for the next few months – including making the huge, rolling EuroMillions jackpot game even more exciting for players across the 10 participating countries – we’re confident that we’ll finish the year on a high.”