Throughout the Christmas season, Lottery Daily will be revisiting some of the biggest stories of the lottery business world from the past year. This edition will be looking at stories from March and April of 2021.
March
Veikkaus aims to make all its games subject to compulsory authentication by 2023
Finnish lottery and gaming operator Veikkaus announced it would take significant measures to promote responsible gaming following the introduction of compulsory authentication to slot machines in stores, restaurants, kiosks, and service stations in January.
The firm intended to adopt compulsory authentication to its gaming arcades later in the year as it gave its players a chance to self-impose a complete ban on their gaming.
Read the full story here.
European Lotteries highlights instant games growth across Europe
The European Lotteries (EL) staged a webinar highlighting the fast-growing world of lottery instant games, both e-instants and paper instants.
Hosted by Israel’s national lottery Mifal HaPais, the webinar comprising 200 participants looked at instant games’ growth across the continent and featured a panel that offered perspectives on several issues impacting the sector.
Read the full story here.
Zeal CEO vows ‘highly promising future’ after tricky 2020
German online lottery products provider ZEAL Network SE published its 2020 Annual Report, confirming the preliminary figures for the financial year which were announced in January.
With a growth of 40%, the group’s billings rose to €652.8m in 2020 (2019: €466.7m). Primary drivers included the first full consolidation of LOTTO24, a positive jackpot development and the associated acquisition of new customers. For contractual reasons, the billings of the ONCE business in Spain are not included in the total.
Read the full story here.
April
Sazka delivers ‘robust performance’ in FY2020 despite difficulties faced
Pan-European lottery and sports betting operator Sazka Group announced its financial results for FY2020, with CEO Robert Chvatal noting that the group delivered a ‘robust performance’ in a difficult year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the 12 months to December 31, 2020, Sazka reported that its consolidated gross gaming revenue (GGR) increased by 6% year-on-year to €2,018m. However, when excluding CASAG and Stoiximan, GGR decreased by 26% year-on-year due to the impact of COVID19 in the second and fourth quarter.
Read the full story here.
FDJ records year-on-year revenue increase in Q1 2021 financial results
The Française des Jeux (FDJ) Group published its financial results for the first quarter of 2021 and recorded an increase in revenues and wagers when compared to the last two years.
While the group’s business was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10% of its sale points closed throughout Q1 2021, wagers increased by 11.8% to €4,591m year-on-year. The operator also reported an increase in sales of 5.2% to €538m.
Read the full story here.
Camelot to enforce 18+ age restriction on UK National Lottery products from April 22
Camelot UK announced it would begin to enforce an 18+ age restriction on all its UK National Lottery products on April 22, six months ahead of the UK Government’s October deadline to introduce the measure.
Anyone under the age of 18 would no longer be able to purchase any of the national lottery operator’s products, whether that be online or in a retail environment.
Read the full story here.
