I-Lottery Update - August 2004

Camelot Rival Possible in the UK

The Times recently reported that a group of London businessmen plan to challenge the supremacy of Camelot and start their own lottery with a £1 million guaranteed weekly prize.

Unlike the National Lottery players in Chariotlottery will be able to choose the charities which could benefit by up to £600,000 a week from the game.

Although Camelot holds the UK's only license to run a paper-based lottery, the Gaming Board allows the establishment of "society" lotteries, which benefit charity.

The Chariotlottery is scheduled to launch in October. Like Camelot's main Lotto game, the Internet-based draw will involve picking six numbers out of a possible 49.

Jackpots will be smaller - a maximum of £1million a week - but organizers say the chances of winning will be higher.

The Herald & Times quoted an unnamed Camelot spokesperson as saying it was not afraid of competition and insisted that its unlimited jackpots were a key factor in attracting players.

"We currently return around £23 million a week to good causes and the National Lottery has raised over £15.8 billion since its launch in 1994," the official said.

Deutsche Bank Raises OPAP Target Share Price

Deutsche Bank raised its price target on shares of Greek lottery company OPAP to 16.3 euros from 15.7 previously, and kept its "Hold" rating.

"OPAP posted a strong set of second quarter and first-half results, outperforming our estimates by about 13 percent (6 percent) on average in terms of Q2 (H1) profitability mainly due to strong Kino performance," Deutsche said in a research note.

OPAP on Thursday more than tripled its first-half net profit to 288.5 million euros ($347.7 million), beating forecasts after reversing a provision that burdened 2003 results.

Ukraine Officials Up Ante For Lottery Operators

The Ukraine Finance Ministry and the State Committee for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship have issued a joint decree to amend the terms for the issue and conduct of lotteries.

According to a report by the Interfax News Agency, the decree registered with the Justice Ministry on July 8, a company seeking to obtain registration as a lottery operator must have a minimum 'statutory' capital to be not lower than 5 million euros, more than double the original amount.

The decree also specifies that the lottery operator's capital must not fall below 5 million euros.

Tougher Regulations Face Operators in Czech Republic

The Finance Ministry of the Czech Republic wants to introduce stricter rules on the operation of lotteries, casinos and gambling venues after the weekend explosion before a casino in Prague's center, the Ministry said in a press release.

It is drafting an amendment to the lottery law, which will make the conditions for the granting of the gambling licenses more difficult. The new government can discuss the amendment in the autumn, the Ministry said.

Under the amendment, the Interior Ministry and police are to check whether the operator is connected with organized crime or any illicit activities.

Gamingking Sees Profit For First Time

According to the UK's Financial Times, after three years of losses, Gamingking has made a step in the right direction with a modest pre-tax profit of £5,925 in the year to April 30, compared with a £161,539 loss previously.

Turnover of the company, which supplies lottery ticket machines, rose 29 percent to £2.8 million, when compared to figures over the prior year.

Leslie Hurst, chairman, said that government proposals for the deregulation of gaming in the UK offered it some specific opportunities.

"In particular as a market leader in the electromechanical vending of lottery tickets, the opportunity to vend lottery tickets to the public, currently prohibited but permissible under the new gaming act, is one area that should yield significant potential," he said.

India State Bans Lotteries Via Vending Machines

Officials with the state government of Karnataka in India banned the conduct of all online lotteries in the state. The ban is effective immediately and a notification to this effect was issued on Saturday.

The ban covers all lotteries conducted through vending machines or other electronic devices and the Internet.

The notification also repealed the 'Karnataka Computerised Network Lottery Rules, 2001,' which came into effect from May 16, 2001.

The then Krishna administration licensed online lotteries to curb, what they perceived to be, the menace of single digit lotteries and fake lottery schemes arising out of the traditional paper lotteries.