Want to know more
than the headlines
 Daily News |
|
Weekly Editions |
| Lottery Guide |
| Vendor News |
| OnLine Games |
| Internet Gaming |
| Wireless Gaming |
| Video Lottery |
| Bingo News |
| Products |
| Statistics |
| Classifieds |
| Feature Articles |
|
Events Calender |
|
Links |
|
Back Issues |
|
Lottery Scams |
|
Advertising |
| Search |
Click here to view NASPL
'03 Presentations
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
|
LOTTERY
INSIDER
is brought to you with the compliments
of
 |
| Vol. 27 No. 13 -- Monday June 28, 2004 |
     |
|
     |
|
GTECH Announce Strong First Quarter Results; Full Year Outlook Remains Positive WEST GREENWICH, Rhode Island (June 22, 2004) – GTECH Holdings Corporation today announced first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2005 ended May 29, 2004. "It was a quarter of continued progress at GTECH, with our financial, operational, and strategic plans all moving forward as expected," said GTECH President and CEO W. Bruce Turner. "Both revenue and earnings were in line with our expectations, and we continued to see steady growth in same-store sales. The first quarter marked the eighth consecutive quarter of meaningful growth in same-store sales." "We continue to be encouraged by the positive trends we have been seeing in the business," said GTECH Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jaymin B. Patel. "We are pleased with the strength of our core business and excited about the opportunities our new acquisitions offer. Based upon our current outlook, we are confident we can achieve our goals and objectives in fiscal 2005 and beyond."
Operating Results Cash Flow and Investments At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2005, GTECH had no borrowings under its $300.0 million credit facility. Recent Development Financial Outlook The Company also revised its guidance upward for fiscal year ending February 26, 2005. The Company continues to expect total revenue growth of 20% to 21%, with service revenue growth in the range of 7% to 9%, and product sales in the range of $210 million to $220 million. The Company continues to expect that service profit margins will be in the range of 41% to 43%, and product sale profit margins to be in the range of 36% to 38%. The Company now expects a reduction in the effective tax rate from 37% to 36% for the fiscal year, and it expects to effect this change in the second half of the fiscal year. Based upon this outlook, the Company now expects earnings per share for fiscal 2004 to be in the range of $3.05 to $3.15 on a fully-diluted basis, rather than the previous guidance of $3.00 to $3.10 per diluted share. For the second quarter of fiscal 2005 ending August 28, 2004, the Company expects service revenue growth in the range of 7% to 9%, and product sales in the range of $80 million to $90 million. The Company expects service margins in the range of 40% to 42%, and product margins in the range of 38% to 40%. The Company expects the effective tax rate to be comparable to the first quarter of fiscal 2005. Accordingly, the Company expects earnings per share to be in the range of $0.75 to $0.80 per share for the quarter, compared with $0.74 reported in the same period last year. This guidance is provided on a pre-split basis.
First Quarter Highlights During the first quarter, GTECH continued to execute against its growth strategy by signing new contracts and contract extensions both abroad and domestically. Oeuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, the operator of Loterie Nationale of Luxembourg , signed a five-year extension with the Company to provide new lottery terminals, products, and ongoing services through October 2012. In addition, South Australian Lotteries Commission (SALC) extended its contract with GTECH through June 26, 2007 . Under this extension, GTECH will continue to provide SALC with software licensing for both online and instant ticket lottery systems, and a keno game. GTECH's customer in Turkey , Milli Piyango, also extended its contract with GTECH through November 10, 2005 , as did Spain 's Loto Catalunya for an additional year through March 2005. Domestically, the Company was notified of the Virginia Lottery's intent to award a seven-year contract to Oberthur Gaming Technologies Corporation (OGT) under which GTECH will be subcontracted to provide new Instant Ticket Vending Machines (ITVMs) and management of warehousing and distribution of instant tickets. The contract, which was recently executed and commenced earlier this month, includes options to renew for up to three years. Additionally, GTECH was awarded contracts with the Illinois Lottery and Washington Lottery for Instant Ticket Dispensing Machines (ITDMs) and Lottery Product Vending Machines (LPVMs), respectively. Also in the quarter, GTECH's wholly-owned subsidiary, Spielo Manufacturing Incorporated, announced that it would provide the Oregon Lottery with approximately 2,000 PowerStation 5 ™ video lottery terminals (VLTs). GTECH completed the acquisition of Spielo in April 2004. In the last month of the quarter, GTECH closed on the acquisition of Leeward Islands Lottery Holding Company, a lottery operating company headquartered on the Caribbean islands of Antigua and St. Croix. "We successfully launched the online games in Tennessee in April and debuted HotTrax, a new 3D, animated monitor game, at 50 locations in Rhode Island in late May," continued Mr. Turner. "HotTrax holds much promise for GTECH and raises the bar in new game development. It is just one of several initiatives that will help drive continued growth in same-store sales." Other initiatives include e-scratch™, an innovative web-based, interactive suite of scratch and reveal games; the development of new instant online games along the lines of Extra ™ and Bingo ™ ; as well as branded games, beginning with the Monopoly brand the Company recently licensed from Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. After the close of the quarter, Organización Nacional de Ciegos Espanoles (ONCE) exercised an option in its existing agreement with GTECH for the provision of 7,000 additional handheld lottery terminals for visually-impaired retailers in Spain . This will bring the total count of hand-held terminals to 14,000 by the end of the calendar year.
Other Business Developments In April, GTECH was notified that its selection as the apparent successful vendor to provide equipment and services for a new online lottery system and associated telecommunications network in Mexico to Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública (Pronósticos) was retracted. As part of a ruling by the Mexican Comptroller Ministry on a protest filed by unsuccessful competitors, GTECH's bid was declared non-compliant and disqualified. Subsequently, Pronósticos announced that it disqualified the sole remaining bidder as also being non-compliant and formally ended the procurement. GTECH believes that it submitted a fully compliant bid to Pronósticos that was in the best interest of the lottery. The Company is pursuing all appropriate avenues available to contest the Comptroller's decision in this matter. In the interim, as the incumbent lottery vendor, GTECH will continue to operate the lottery under its existing contract. In May, GTECH was notified by Lotería Electrónica de Puerto Rico of its intent to negotiate a contract to provide equipment and services for a new online lottery system, terminals, and associated telecommunications network with another vendor. In an effort to understand the rationale behind the decision, GTECH filed a petition with the Court of Appeals to obtain a copy of the evaluation report, which was withheld by Lotería Electrónica. GTECH also requested, and was granted, a stay of contract negotiations between Loteria Electronica and the apparent successful vendor. The Company is currently awaiting the court's decision. GTECH, a leading global information technology company with over $1 billion in revenues and more than 5,500 people in 45 countries, provides software, networks, and professional services that power high-performance, transaction processing solutions. The Company's core market is the lottery industry, with a growing presence in commercial gaming technology and financial services transaction processing. For more information about the Company, please visit GTECH's website at http://www.gtech.com. SOURCE: GTECH Corporation media release.
Eurofootball Supports Extreme Sports Events "Life at 100% Adrenalin"
SOFIA, Bulgaria (June 22, 2004) -- Eurofootball is the main sponsor of "Sports Club Adrenalin" for the year 2004, which has been established on 1992 and is the pioneer of bundjy jumps, base jumping and paraplanerism in Bulgaria. Eurofootball, in coordination with Club Adrenalin, have launched an initiative called "Life at 100% Adrenalin" which includes 7 joint events that are realized throughout the year. Sports such as bundjy jumping and paraplanerism have already taken place with high participation and attendance. Two bundjy jumping events have been organized in April and May accordingly, the first one in Stambolov Bridge in the town of Veliko Tarnovo for 24 hours continuously with around 400 people participants jumping off from 28m. height and enthusiastic shouts all over and the second, in Sofia’s South Park where 60 daredevils flew off a 50m. height crane with the youngest participant at 6 years old and the older at 52. Also in May, Eurofootball organized The 4th International Paraplanerism Championship called "Air Fight 2004" that took place on the Vitosha Mountain. The Slovenian Alexander Turk, who scored 1317 points, ranked 1st, while the Bulgarian Valeri Tzvetanov ranked 2nd succeeding 1290 points. Also, the Russian Natalia Loseva ranked 1st in the women’s competition, while the team of Slovenians had the best performance in the team competition and took the first place.
More events have been scheduled for the year 2004 such as The National Bundjy Jumping Championship, which will be carried out on July for 7th consecutive year at the bridge of Asparuh; The Week of the Sea, in which a hot-air balloon will be available for lifting and bundjy jumps for 10 days in August in some of the bigger sea towns and resorts; The Day of Sofia, in which the national holiday in September 17th will be celebrated through the lifting of a hot-air balloon in front of the National Palace of Culture while parachute demonstrations will be carried out and finally, The National 12 Extreme Events Championship, which will take place on October. Mr. Nikos Arsenopoulos, CEO of Eurofootball stated: "Consistent with its sponsorship policy, Eurofootball supports sports activities such as the initiative "Life at 100% Adrenalin". A big number of young people participate at the events and have a unique experience of becoming acquainted with various extreme sports". Eurofootball was established in Bulgaria in 1993, whereas received a license from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria to organize bets on football matches, in agent shops situated throughout the whole country. In February 2002, INTRALOT acquired the 49% of the company. SOURCE: Eurofootball Ltd. media release. Texas Lottery® Players Will Soon Have Chance at Big Money on Monday and Thursday Nights AUSTIN, Texas (June 22, 2004) -- Tonight's Texas Two Step® drawing will be the last Tuesday night drawing for the Texas Lottery® game. Starting on Monday, June 28, the Texas Two Step drawings will be held on Monday and Thursday nights, joining the Cash Five™ and Pick 3™ lineup of games. "The move gives players the chance to win big jackpots every night now except Sundays," said Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Reagan E. Greer. "After careful consideration, the commission voted in April to change the draw nights for Texas Two Step because of competition with the multi-state Mega Millions jackpot game."
In the game's three-year history, there have been a total of 138 jackpot winning tickets sold. The highest single payout, $1.5 million, was awarded to Gwendolyn Kelly of Cameron in 2002. "Texas Two Step has been very successful for the Texas Lottery and the state," said Greer. "Since the game started in May of 2001, sales have totaled more than $227 million, and players have won more than $110 million." Players still choose four numbers from a field of 35 and a Bonus Ball number from a second field of 35. The odds of winning the Texas Two Step jackpot are 1 in 1.8 million and the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 32. The cost to play is $1. Tonight's Texas Two Step jackpot is worth $425,000. SOURCE: Texas Lottery Commission Press Release. Loto-Québec’s New Sponsorship Policy Makes for a Rendez-vous Series, Not to be Missed MONTRÉAL, Quebec (June 17, 2004) – During 2004-2005, Loto-Québec will be more present than ever in public events held throughout the province, over 50 of which will be presented under the Rendez-vous Loto-Québec theme.
The plans for this enhanced presence were unveiled at a press conference held today in Montréal, with close to 40 community organizations in attendance. The new sponsorship approach was instituted following extensive analysis and careful consideration in response to the expectations of consumers who would like to see the Corporation participate in public events and entertaining activities province-wide. The new policy has been officially adopted by Loto-Québec’s Board of Directors and is to be implemented with a budget of $11.3 million this year. According to Pierre Bibeau, Senior Vice-President of Communications and Public Affairs, "this is a major contribution aimed at meeting the expectations of both consumers and event organizers, and the new policy is fully aligned with the Corporation’s commitment to providing its clientele with the most satisfying diversions. In fact, Loto-Québec’s participation in public events complements its other activities, while providing valuable financial support and helping to extend the reach of these events." Rendez-vous Loto-Québec
Each year, Loto-Québec and its subsidiaries are associated with more than 100 different events. During 2004-2005, the Corporation’s new sponsorship policy will see the addition of 28 more events in various regions. In addition to receiving direct financial contributions, the activities held under the banner of the Rendez-vous Loto-Québec will benefit from the Corporation’s promotional support, including radio and print advertising, information materials and on-site animation during major events. Committed to sustaining its presence in numerous forms, the Corporation lends its support to a diverse range of events throughout Québec that generate significant economic and social spin-offs for their respective communities and the province at large. A complete list of these events and activities, along with information about Loto-Québec’s partnerships with non-profit organizations, the Loto-Québec Collection and the Corporation’s social commitment is available on the Internet at www.loto-quebec.com. SOURCE: Loto-Québec. For more Information
MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada (June 22, 2004) -- Oberthur Gaming Technologies (OGT) is proud to announce it will offer its clients a wider range of solutions for lottery games played on the Internet thanks to a servicing agreement reached with Bell Canada, which will include the infrastructure management of Internet lottery applications. Prompted by the resounding success experienced in New Jersey with the launch of Cyber Slingo®, in collaboration with INGENIO, and with the support of a strong and reliable supplier in infrastructure management, Oberthur will be in a position to better respond to the needs of lottery organizations that, in the coming years, will decide to add Internet games to their product mix. From now on, through OGT, lotteries will also be able to entrust the management of their Internet games to Bell Canada, one of the most dynamic companies in North America, and the most important communications company in Canada.
Through this agreement, OGT and its clients around the globe will benefit from the many advantages related to Bell Canada’s expertise and highly effective technology: rapid installation, product perfectly tailored to the specific needs of lottery organizations, stringent control measures offering the highest level of security, scalability to several simultaneous accesses, and servicing available 24/7. The Bell Canada solution includes, among others: hosting of the website; management of the server and database; firewall; applications management of the operating systems and Internet website; backup files; modulated bandwidth; 24/7 network management and supervision; network guaranteed against all problems; and management of a portion of, or the lottery’s entire information system. "We are pleased to offer our clients a turnkey solution that is perfectly adapted to the high requirements of the lottery industry", said André Nadeau, OGT’s Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Strategic Development. "A leader in the field of communications and the Internet, Bell Canada is well-known for its dependability. We will not hesitate to recommend the Internet to our clients who wish to grow their lottery sales". With more than 30 years of lottery-specific expertise and over a century's experience in the security printing industry, Oberthur Gaming Technologies ("OGT") is the world’s leader in the printing of innovative instant lottery tickets. OGT currently supplies a full range of high quality and innovative products and services to 100 clients in some 50 countries. With a worldwide annual production capacity in excess of 14 billion tickets, the company has production units and offices in Montreal, Canada; San Antonio, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Harleysville, Pennsylvania in the U.S.; Paris, France; Vienna, Austria; Curitiba, Brazil; and Sydney, Australia. SOURCE: Lyse Trudel, Public Relations Officer, Oberthur
Gaming Technologies (+1-514) 254-3600, ext. 101. Missouri Lottery Proceeds Increase 18.75%, Set New Record JEFFERSON CITY, MO (June 22, 2004) -- For the 12th year in a row, Missouri Lottery proceeds have surpassed the previous year’s total and set a new record. Today’s final monthly transfer of proceeds to public education for fiscal year 2004 is $17,598,960, bringing the total proceeds to education in fiscal year 2004 to more than $230.3 million. This is an 18.75 percent increase compared to the past fiscal year, when proceeds totaled $193.9 million.
"To put it into perspective, the Lottery generated more in profits this past fiscal year than it achieved in total sales 12 years ago, when the upswing began," said Jim Scroggins, executive director of the Missouri Lottery. "That’s an increase of more than 250 percent in revenue for the state, including education, over the past 12 years." Scroggins said the past year’s proceeds increase can be attributed to four things: numerous high Powerball jackpots, increased Scratchers sales, growth in the Club Keno game and most recently, growth in the Lotto jackpot. During the past fiscal year, Powerball jackpots exceeded the $100 million mark more than five times, compared with the previous fiscal year, when the jackpot exceeded $100 million only three times. "We started out the fiscal year last July with a jackpot in excess of $200 million," said Scroggins. "One of the winners of that jackpot was from Missouri, which not only pumped up sales, but also generated a lot of publicity for the game." Scroggins also noted that Scratchers sales are up approximately 8 percent over the previous fiscal year to date, due to more games and increased sales at the $2 and $5 price levels. Club Keno continues to grow as more retailers become licensed and more players become acquainted with the game. More than 80 new retailers were licensed to sell Club Keno during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2004, and sales to date are up more than 22 percent. During the second half of fiscal year 2004, the Missouri Lotto jackpot has risen to its current $9.4 million level, which has brought average weekly sales of approximately $611,000 up to more than $1.1 million.
Proceeds from Missouri Lottery ticket sales in fiscal year 2004 were used for a variety of public education programs including the Foundation Program, the Safe Schools Initiative, the Vocational Rehabilitation Program, the Early Grade Literacy Program and improvements at several colleges and universities around the state. For a complete list of programs funded in FY04, visit the Where The Money Goes section. From the start of the Lottery in January 1986 through fiscal year 1993, Lottery proceeds of $542,540,033 went to the state’s General Revenue Fund. In August 1992, Missouri voters approved an amendment to direct all Lottery proceeds to public education, and since July 1993, when the law change took effect, the Lottery has contributed more than $1.7 billion to the state’s public education system. Each year the proceeds are allocated by the governor and the state’s General Assembly during the annual appropriation process. These funds represent approximately 3.5 percent of the total annual funding required for Missouri’s public education system. For each dollar spent on the Lottery, more than 94 cents goes back to the citizens of the state in one form or another. Approximately 60.5 cents is returned to players as prizes, 27.5 cents goes to the state’s public education programs, 6 cents pays for retailers’ commissions, incentives and bonuses, and 6 cents is used for administrative costs. For more information concerning Missouri Lottery proceeds, including complete lists of public education programs funded each year since July 1993, visit the Missouri Lottery’s Web site at www.molottery.com. SOURCE: Missouri Lottery media release. 100 Millionth 3 Times Lucky Ticket Hits SC Stores! COLUMBIA, SC (June 23, 2004): The South Carolina Education Lottery (SCEL) has hit another milestone with one of its instant tickets. Nearly two and a half years ago, the SCEL introduced its inaugural instant tickets: The Logo Game, Scenic South Carolina, 3 Times Lucky, and Carolina Riches. Of those four tickets, 3 Times Lucky is still standing.
In fact, SCEL has printed the 100 millionth 3 Times Lucky ticket. This batch of tickets is currently being offered to the lottery’s 3,500 retailers statewide. "This game has become a staple in South Carolina," said Tony Cooper, SCEL’s chief operation officer. "Players have won more than $94 million in this game alone." To put this in perceptive, 100 million 3 Times Lucky tickets:
Since January 2002, the SCEL has transferred more than $569 million to the State’s Education Lottery Account for distribution according to South Carolina Legislation. SOURCE: The South Carolina Education Lottery (SCEL) www.sceducationlottery.com. Statement on additional prize funding for EuroMillions LONDON, UK (June 24, 2004) - The Commission has agreed to limited additional prize funding for EuroMillions.
It will enable ‘base jackpots’ in the draw after a jackpot is won to be guaranteed for the time being at 10 million euros. Any amounts in the Booster Fund provided for in the Game Procedures will be used for this purpose first. The lotteries participating in EuroMillions will contribute to the additional funding on the basis of their EuroMillions sales; it will be capped and the UK contribution will not exceed £2 million. The Section 6 licence for the EuroMillions game in the UK makes provision for the Commission to agree to additional funding for prizes. SOURCE : The National Lottery Commission Lottery's Clean$weep Initiative Helping to Reduce Litter COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 18, 2004) -- South Carolinian lottery players showed their pride and helped keep South Carolina clean by participating in the South Carolina Education Lottery (SCEL) and PalmettoPride’s yearlong initiative aimed at taking action against litter.
Last July, the two organizations launched Clean$weep, an effort that encourages South Carolinians to help reduce the amount of litter by submitting their non-winning instant game tickets for a chance to win a cash prize. The last drawing is June 30, 2004. Clean$weep entries must be received by 5 p.m. on June 29. To-date, more than 900,000 tickets were mailed to the SCEL for the monthly drawings. "The people of South Carolina really embraced this anti-litter effort," said Ernie Passailaigue, SCEL Executive Director. "Clean$weep is a great opportunity to encourage South Carolinians to be environmentally responsible while having fun." "PalmettoPride would like to thank everyone that participated in Clean$weep," said Senator David L. Thomas. "We encourage all South Carolinians to follow the lead of these dedicated citizens and make a commitment to keep South Carolina litter-free." By submitting five non-winning tickets, entrants have the chance to win in the Clean$weep second-chance drawing. Each month, SCEL draws 100 entries and award each winning entrant $50. The SCEL and PalmettoPride are working together for another exciting Clean$weep promotion in 2004-2005. SOURCE: SCEL media release.
BROOMFIELD, Colorado (June 21, 2004) -- McDATA Corporation, the expert provider of multi-capable storage networking solutions, today announced the installation of a McDATA solution for the United Kingdom's National Lottery operator, Camelot Group plc. The solution was implemented to meet new availability, disaster recovery and data protection objectives designated by Camelot's interactive department as the company extends its services to include Instant Win Games and Lotto on the internet. McDATA's solution also enables Camelot to manage, transport, store and retrieve the large volumes of data generated from the online transactions for marketing purposes.
Since its launch in 1994, the UK National Lottery has generated $28.7 billion for Good Causes with 165,486 projects benefiting from lottery funding across the UK -- the biggest program of civic and social regeneration since the 19th Century. National Lottery players have won over $40.5 billion in prizes and over 1,600 millionaires or multimillionaires have been created since launch. Camelot runs one of the most cost efficient lotteries in the world and technology is critical to the success of The National Lottery. "High performance and availability are critical to our commitment to extend accessibility to The National Lottery," said Rick Harrington, interactive architecture and security manager for Camelot Group plc. "The McDATA solution, sold via premier partner, Sagitta, was a clear choice because of its reliability, low complexity and non-disruptive blade and firmware upgrade capabilities. Although we scheduled any upgrades to take place overnight for caution's sake, this is not necessary as the operation is uninterrupted." After considering both Brocade and McDATA solutions, Camelot found the McDATA solution offered greater performance and scalability, and would have greater connectivity due to less need for inter-switch links (ISLs). The new SAN environment is based on McDATA Intrepid® Directors. The new, highly scalable SAN can support the National Lottery's present and future growth by ensuring constant availability and data protection for their online gaming, sales transactions and marketing programs and meets the strict performance standards stipulated by the Lottery regulator. "Downtime for one of the world's largest lottery companies is not an option. The installation of McDATA's highly available, non-disruptive solution helped Camelot's Interactive department to avoid issues related to outages and firmware upgrades," said Georg Bartz, vice president of EMEA sales and services for McDATA. "McDATA's solutions are the perfect fit for all the service, protection and availability requirements the company is obligated to meet." About McDATA (www.mcdata.com). McDATA is the expert provider of Multi-Capable Storage Networking Solutions(TM) -- hardware, software and services -- that enable partners and customers around the world to reduce the total cost of storage management today, and be ready to adapt to the real-time information demands of tomorrow. Entrenched in over 8,000 data centers worldwide, McDATA solutions are at the heart of more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 storage network data centers, powering the latest e-business applications, customer databases, financial traffic and other mission-critical data. Customers leverage McDATA's multi-capable solutions to realize immediate cost savings, reduce their investment risk, ensure the continuity of their operations and adapt to changing business requirements. SOURCE: McDATA Corporation (www.mcdata.com).
|
Interplay Multimedia Pty. Ltd. disclaims all liability for information provided within Lottery Insider -- Data supplied by named sources. |