3 months ago
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Gaming and entertainment company Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, is looking to its online channels to grow sales, amid a dip in revenue.
In the second quarter, the company experienced a near $257 million dip in gaming income, $12.76 billion at June 2024 compared to $12.77 billion in June 2023, and SVL Group Executive Chairman Gary Peart isn’t expecting the third quarter to deliver better results.
Hurricane Beryl Beryl, which swiped the island on July 3, caused disruptions to SVL’s business which has touch-points right across Jamaica. Peart said the team put in a lot of overtime to get the various channels up and running, including horse racing entity Caymanas Park, the gaming lounges,and the digital platform. At the same time, of the 1,500 vending machines in operation before the storm only about 1,200 are now operational.
A return to full operation is not expected until around the end of September, Peart noted. Consequently, he expects revenue performance for the quarter “to be a little weak, depending on how (the vendors) rebound”.
SVL has operations in Jamaica, Guyana and Ghana. Regarding the latter market, which has a population of a population of 34 million, Peart said that one year into start up, the online rollout in Ghana was successful, but the terrestrial rollout was not as smooth as anticipated.
“The terrestrial rollout has been a little bit slower than expected. We still have not yet achieved countrywide distribution, and so it impacts the revenue from what we expected relative to budget,” the SVL chairman said.
From a value perspective, he added, the company has crossed the first hurdle of the one-year provisional licence and secured a 10-year permit, and by extension, security of tenure. It means the company can put more investments into the Ghana market, he added.
Peart said the market in Ghana acts as a test-bed of technologies, and that the innovations already in use in there will be rolled out in Jamaica as soon as the regulators give the green light.
“We’re experimenting with a lot of technology in Ghana that will eventually find its way back into Jamaica. The moment we get the necessary approvals we’re just rolling out,” Peart said.
“From a financial, straight numbers perspective, we’re not there yet but as a value proposition it is definitely positive,” he added.
Alongside online sales, SVL is seeking to gin revenues from new innovations as well as remittances.
SVL has been on a marketing blitz to promote its online products.
“Online and digital are the future. I believe with all my heart that to the extent that we are one of the largest players in that space right now, we can still grow the business 1,000 times. If this is where the future should be, then the person that moves first will be the one to reap the benefit. We want to be that company,” Peart said.
Gross ticket sales amounted to $28.29 billion, down seven per cent down from $30.42 billion. Last year, the company booked nearly $421 million, representing a surplus from the Super Lotto jackpot, but even without that boost, performance in the period was much better than the current quarter.
Peart said the $421 million represented an adjustment arising from SVL’s share of net revenues from the operation of the Super Lotto, run in partnership with GTech, the lottery technology provider to SVL.
Profit in the June quarter was nearly $484 million, less than half the $1 billion of earnings reported in the June 2023 quarter.
English (US) ·