News Camelot UK Lotteries Limited: Half-year financial results

Camelot today announced record half-year returns to the Good Causes and prize payouts as the company achieved its highest-ever interim National Lottery sales. Camelot has now delivered over £27 billion for the Good Causes and paid out over £40 billion to players in prize money since The National Lottery’s launch in 1994 – reinforcing the company’s position as one of the world’s most successful lottery operators.

In the six months to 24 September 2011, Camelot succeeded in growing total sales to £3,264.4 million, an increase of £542.4 million (19.9%) on the corresponding period last year. This outstanding performance once again underlines the ongoing effectiveness of Camelot’s strategy for long-term, responsible growth which aims to encourage many people to play but to each spend relatively little.

This approach has now seen total National Lottery sales increase by over 20% since the start of Camelot’s second lottery licence in 2002 – and the number of players rise by over 5% in the last five years alone. However, the UK National Lottery is ranked just 60th in terms of per capita spend despite being the seventh largest lottery in the world in terms of sales – clear evidence of Camelot’s ongoing commitment to being a responsible operator.

The rise in sales helped to drive direct returns to the Good Causes over the half-year up from £784.8 million to £918.3 million¹, an increase of £133.5 million over the same period last year. Lottery funding has now enabled more than 370,000 individual awards to be made across the UK – the equivalent of 120 lottery grants for every postcode district.

Camelot paid out a record £1,689.9 million in prize money during the half-year – taking the total amount of prizes now paid to players to over £40 billion. Over 2,700 lottery millionaires and multi-millionaires have been created to date – including the UK’s biggest-ever lottery winners, Colin and Chris Weir, who banked a £161 million EuroMillions jackpot in August.

The continued growth in sales is also excellent news for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Camelot has now raised over £650 million towards London 2012 from sales of specially-designated games – and remains on track to hit its target of £750 million from the sale of such games.

By continuing to offer players an enhanced and regularly-refreshed portfolio of games – and by focusing on innovation to give them what they want, when they want – Camelot succeeded in growing sales across the board during the half-year. Sales of draw-based games, which were boosted by two exceptional EuroMillions Rollover jackpots, increased from £2,049.8 million to £2,447.6 million, while sales of instant play games rose from £672.2 million to £816.8 million.

The company also continued to boost performance across its retail and direct channels. Despite challenging high street conditions, Camelot’s comprehensive programme of support for its retail partners succeeded in growing in-store sales from £2,352.8 million to £2,750.7 million. It achieved an equally strong performance across its direct channels, with interactive and subscriptions sales increasing from £369.2 million to £513.7 million.

Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of Camelot, said: “We’ve made an extremely positive start to the 2011/12 financial year, raising a record amount for the Good Causes and paying out record sums in prize money to our players – which is what The National Lottery is all about. But this success isn’t an overnight phenomenon. It’s the result of our proven strategy for responsible growth that has seen our sales rise steadily and our player numbers increase over the long term by encouraging many people to play but to spend relatively small amounts.

“Our continued achievements in the face of a challenging economic climate and a worldwide trend of lower lottery sales growth have reinforced our position as one of the world’s leading lottery operators. However, we never take success for granted and are determined to build on the tremendous performance of the last six months to make sure that we continue to raise as much money as possible for the Good Causes and create even more winners.” 

^{1 Figures do not include investment returns on National Lottery balances which are reported separately.}

Notes to Editors:

• Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for the Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.
• To date, over £27 billion has been raised for the Good Causes by The National Lottery, and more than 370,000 individual awards have been made across the UK – the biggest programme of civic and social regeneration since the 19th Century. The National Lottery has given away over £40 billion in prizes and created more than 2,700 millionaires or multi-millionaires since launch in 1994.
• Camelot runs the most cost-efficient lottery in Europe, with around 4% of total revenue spent on operating costs. In the period up to March 2012, around 28% of total National Lottery revenue is expected to go to the Good Causes. Over the course of the third Licence, over 50% of total National Lottery revenue is expected to be paid to winners in prizes, while 12% of total revenue is expected to be paid to the Government in Lottery Duty. Depending on performance, total profits across the course of the Licence will range from 0.3% to a maximum of 0.5% of total revenue.
• Camelot is committed to the highest standards in player protection and social responsibility in both the retail and interactive environments. The National Lottery website and Play By Text services have been accredited by GamCare, the UK’s national centre for information, advice and practical help regarding the social impact of gambling – while Camelot’s approach to game design, test purchasing and retailer vigilance campaigns ensures player protection at retail.
• For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit the following websites: www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over.