5 months ago
24
Gaming and entertainment company Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, is already seeing a rebound from its 20 per cent profit decline last year, based on its first quarter results, according to Executive Chairman Gary Peart.
The SVL Group experienced double-digit growth in net segment results across all operating segments, Peart told shareholders at their annual general meeting on Thursday.
The lottery segment was up nearly 14 per cent while the sports betting segment improved by 22 per cent and pin codes nearly 18 per cent. Peart says the company will be using this momentum to drive innovation and expansion across the group.
For the January-March 2024 period, the operating segments at SVL recorded results of $1.32 billion, an increase of $360 million or 38 per cent year on year.
SV FinTech, the financial services arm of the company, will ramp up the roll out of additional products. The company is invested in microfinancing through McKayla Financial, holds a minority stake of 15 per cent in Dolla Financial, and offers digital financial services through Evolve.
Peart told shareholders that the company was in the second phase of a rollout of its remittance service offerings while it will be boosting its loan book and offering more microfinance-type products.
Otherwise, SVL is hinting at further foreign expansion as part of its growth plans. Peart said now that SVL’s partners in Ghana, Game Park, have acquired a 10-year licence to operate, the company was looking forward to deepening that relationship and leveraging it for further expansion.
“Now that you have a 10-year licence, you can amortise expenses over a longer period of time, which allows for more investments to build that market, so we look forward to even better things from the Ghanaian market,” he said.
SVL’s profit decline last year flowed from unexpectedly big payouts to lottery winners in the fourth quarter. The company previously said it ended up paying out over $1 billion more than it normally does. That led to earnings being sliced from $3 billion to $2.4 billion.
Peart reported that it is one of the lesser-known facts that SVL is the largest distributor of phone credit “at the right price” in Jamaica. He said the segment recorded revenues of $12.3 billion, which was relatively in line with the prior year.
In explaining what ‘at the right price means’, Peart noted that a $100 phone card costs a consumer $125, once the 25 per cent GCT rate is added. However, he charged that some distributors allow retailers to charge more than the ‘right price’ for phone top-ups.
“We at Supreme have taken the decision not to do that because what that does is to deprive, especially the lower economic segment of the of the economy, the true value of what you buy these cards for, and life is already tough for a majority of people in this country,” Peart said.
Any SVL retailer caught engaging in that practice will face consequences, he added.
“Any SVL retailer that does not sell their phone cards at the right price will no longer be a retailer of SVL. To date, we’ve received 100 per cent compliance, but any day you go to a retailer and they’re not selling at the right price, give me a call!” Peart said.
English (US) ·