Month: March 2022

This loss was in stark contrast to a HK$1.27bn profit in the previous year.

Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December amounted to $340.4m, an increase of 87.0% from $181.9m in the previous year.

Gaming and hotel operations accounted for $248.4m of total revenue, while mall operations revenue reached $40.9m, hotel operations revenue $17.2m and consultancy revenue $3.3m.

Cost of sales increased 61.8% to $250.3m, which left a gross profit of $90.1m, up 231.3% from $27.2m in 2020. Suncity also noted $114.2m in other income and $825.8m in change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, but higher expenses elsewhere far overcame revenue growth.

Administrative expenses proved to be the main outgoing operating cost at $269.7m, while Suncity also reported a $287.1m impairment loss on property, operating right and equipment.

Further costs of $119.7m were not in relation to impairment loss on equity loans to a joint venture and a further $194.2m in impairment loss on loans to the joint venture. A $438.0m loss was also associated with the joint venture, while finance costs for the year reached $283.9m.

This left a pre-tax loss of $623.1m, a stark contrast to the $1.27bn profit posted at the end of 2020.

Suncity also paid $23.1m in tax, which resulted in a net loss from continuing operations of $646.2m, compared to the $1.27bn net profit in the previous year and higher than the full-year loss forecast earlier this month.

The business noted that it owed $823.1m due within one year, including $366.9m due tomorrow (31 March) and a further $220.2m due a the end of next month, plus an additional HK$303m to a related company.

As a result, it said that “these conditions indicate the existence of material uncertainties which may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

“The directors have been undertaking measures to improve the Group’s liquidity and financial position, to refinance its operations and to restructure its borrowings,” it added.

As a result of its financial position, the group has already opened negotiations on the sale of certain assets it holds, including land it owns in Japan. It has also negotiated with its creditors for delayed repayment of its loans.

The business will also work to further cut costs and pursue equity financing if necessary.

The loss comes as revenue from Suncity’s core junket business dropped from HK$123.8m in 2020 – itself a sharp decline from 2019, due to travel restrictions – to HK$42.8m in 2021. This business was then discontinued from 1 December, after the arrest of the group’s chairman, Alvin Chau.

Chau, who has since stepped down from his position at SunCity, has been accused of running an illegal online betting ring.

Alongside its original earnings update, Suncity claimed Gold Yield Enterprises had failed to pay back a US$30m loan. Gold Yield Enterprise is a joint venture between Suncity’s Star Admiral subsidiary and Alpha Era, an investment trust.

At the time of the loan, Suncity said Star Admiral and Alpha Era together owned a 67% stake in the Hoiana Resort in Vietnam.

Suncity and Alpha Era had lent Gold Yield this money last year in order to develop Hoiana. Suncity claims the loan was payable on 28 February, but that it has not been repaid. As a result, it says that Gold Yield Enterprise has defaulted on a US$34.9m debt to Suncity, when interest is included. It added that it would owe the same amount to Alpha Era.

Suncity had itself been the subject of loan default claims following Chau’s arrest, as an unnamed lender argued Chau had defaulted on a HK$313.6m debt. As a result, Suncity warned that the business could be seized by creditors.

Reporting directly to president and chief executive Ray Pineault, Lin will be responsible for advising executive management on legal matters over a range of commercial transactions, regulatory issues, international and domestic policy-making decisions, and formulating business, operational and legal strategies.

Lin will also lead the legal, compliance and risk management teams to ensure all current, future and strategic matters support the best interest of MGE and the Mohegan Tribe.

He takes on the new role having spent the past 35 years as a partner at Latham & Watkins, a private equity practice group that represents clients across the gambling industry including lenders, developers, owners and operators of gaming properties

Lin also ran his own advisory and previously worked for Polk & Wardwell and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Collins J. Seitz of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

“We are pleased to welcome Ray Lin to our executive leadership team to ensure maximum protection of our legal rights and obligations across all of our properties,” Pineault, said.

“With more than 25 years of experience in the legal field representing both gaming and non-gaming transactions, Ray’s leadership and expertise will contribute to MGE’s continued growth and success.”

The business said its EasySwipe casino games act as an addition to an operator’s sports betting offerings, giving operators the opportunity to cross-sell from sportsbook to casino.

ESA Gaming reports that EasySwipe has seen a 20% conversion of sports players, a 5% increase in screentime and a 3% increase in sports revenue since its inception.

EasySwipe currently has seven titles, including Fruit Staxx and Goal Mine, with more to be added throughout 2022.

“We have had a fantastic start to the year, adding new games to our portfolio and boosting our presence in several markets,” said Zorica Smallwood, director at ESA Gaming.

“Through this certification we will be able to partner with Danish operators and introduce local players to our innovative content which offers lightweight design and easy game-play that enables operators to create a new vertical without impacting the sports betting experience.”

The company has also entered a number of new markets in the last year, the most recent being Sweden last week. ESA Gaming entered Malta and Greece in 2021.

In July of 2021, Tabcorp first announced plans to spin off its Lotteries and Keno arm following a strategic review of its operations.

The review had begun four months earlier and looked at a number of structural and ownership options for Tabcorp to create more value for shareholders, including potentially selling off its Wagering and Media business. At the time it said a number of unsolicited proposals had been made for the division, including from Entain, but argued none of these represented the true value of the division. 

However, after the review it opted to keep the wagering arm, but instead spin off the lotteries business. This would result in two separate companies –  Lotteries and KenoCo, covering all of Tabcorp’s lottery operations, and Wagering and GamingCo, which will host wagering, media and gaming services.

Tabcorp said the demerger would allow shareholders to value each of the businesses on a standalone basis and let the latter operator pursue opportunities beyond Australia.

Now, the Supreme Court of New South Wales has given permission for Tabcorp to host a scheme meeting, in which shareholders may vote on the proposed demerger. This meeting will be held on the morning of 12 May. It will be held at the Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, although Tabcorp “strongly encourages shareholders to participate in the meetings online”.

Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2021 amounted to €561.2m, up from €404.9m in the previous financial year.

Breaking down its performance, Sportradar said its rest of world betting segment remained its primary source of revenue, with this area of the business generating €309.4m in revenue, up 31.5% on 2020.

Rest of world audio-visual betting revenue also increased 32.4% to €140.2m, while revenue in the US jumped by 108.4% from €34.4m to €71.1m.

Sportradar noted a number of key achievements during the year including the extension of multi-year partnerships with major sports organisations such as the National Hockey League, International Tennis Federation, German football’s Bundesliga and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The wider agreement with the NBA led to the league being issued warrants to purchase 3% of the outstanding shares in Sportradar for $0.01 each.

In addition, Sportradar agreed new deals with the International Cricket Council and the Union of European Football Associations (Uefa).

Turning to expenses, spending was higher across a number of areas including personnel, purchased services and licences, other operating expenses, but such was the impact of revenue growth, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 32.6% to €102.0m.

However, Sportradar also noted €129.4m in depreciation and amortisation costs, as well as €6.0m in impairment loss on trade receivables, contract assets and other financial assets. Foreign currency net gain reached €5.4m and finance income €5.3m, but finance expenses amounted to €32.5m.

This left a pre-tax profit of €23.8m, up 8.2% on the previous year, while Sportradar paid a total of €7.3m. This left an initial profit of €12.8m, which was 13.5% lower than 2020.

However, Sportradar also noted €1.2m in remeasurement of defined benefit liability, after deferred tax expense, as well as €13.5m worth of foreign currency translation adjustment attributable to its owners. 

As a result, net profit for the year reached €27.4m, up 52.2% year-on-year.

Looking at the fourth quarter, revenue for the final three months of 2021 was €152.4m, up 41.1% on the previous year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was 13.8% higher at €21.4m, but higher costs across certain areas of the business meant pre-tax profit declined by 66.4% to €4.5m.

Sportradar paid €313,000 in Q4 income tax, leaving an initial profit of €4.2m, down 52.3% year-on-year.

However, after including €1.2m in remeasurement of defined benefit liability, after deferred tax expense, and €14.2 in foreign currency translation adjustment attributable to its owners, this left a net profit of €19.6m, which was 83.2% up from €10.4m in 2020.

“I am very pleased with our strong results, which illustrate how well we are delivering on our operational and growth plans. Importantly, we have good momentum going into our next fiscal year,” Sportradar chief executive Carsten Koerl said.

“We are continuing to invest in content, technology and people that will allow us to deliver profitable growth in line with our goals. 

“We are particularly pleased about more than doubling our year-over-year revenues in the US, which continues its explosive sports betting growth story. Sportradar has been a leader in this market since 2014, and we’re now seeing the results of our early investment.

“We continue to see the enormous opportunity as sports betting becomes an increasingly integral part of the media entertainment fabric in the US.”

The body – which will be Germany’s first federal-level gambling regulator from 1 January, 2023 – was created through Germany’s Fourth State Treaty on Gambling, which came into effect in July 2021. This treaty allowed nationwide online casino gaming for the first time, but with a number of strict rules intended to protect players. These measures included a €1 per spin stake limit for online slots.

Glücksspielbehörde board member Ronald Benter said that the new regulator was already looking to strengthen player protection through three main areas.

First, Benter said the regulator was working on “data-based evaluation” of the player protection measures contained in the Fourth State Treaty. 

 “Our goal is an internal evaluation system to measure the effect of the player protection measures of the treaty,” Benter said.

Fellow board member Benjamin Schwanke added that the Glücksspielbehörde will work with experts to create an early detection system for gambling harm.

“In addition, we will approach the relevant experts and institutions in the area of ​​provider-related early detection systems for gambling addiction, because we need further development of common, cross-provider scientific standards for early detection of gambling addiction,” he said.

Based on the results of this research, the regulator will then advise politicians on future adjustments to the law if necessary.

Second, he said the regulator was developing a new central complaint and whistleblowing system. Through this system, citizens can report both “irregularities with permitted gambling providers” and suspicions of illegal gambling, as well as advertising violations.

“The aim is to use an automated process to quickly initiate appropriate measures and to receive automated evaluation options about the frequency of complaints on specific topics or providers,” the Glücksspielbehörde said.

Finally, Benter said the regulator will provide bundled information on the subject of player protection and the prevention of gambling and betting addiction on its website. This, he noted, will include transparent standards that an operator should meet to receive a licence.

In addition, Schwanke added that the regulator was “in talks with industry associations” about continuing to make free gambling harm services available on national public health hotline Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA).

The partnership first began in 2019. It was renewed earlier this year, extending the deal until 2024.

During the partnership, Parimatch branding was featured on Team Spirit’s Dota 2 and CS:GO uniforms.

Stepan Shulga, head of esports at Parimatch Tech, explained that the end of the partnership was due to the war in Ukraine and that there were no contractual disputes with Team Spirit.

“We have no mutual claims because all agreement terms were fulfilled throughout the partnership,” said Shulga.

“But, given the difficulties of operating during the war, we consider this solution the only one possible.”

Earlier this week Team Spirit announced that its office was to be relocated to Belgrade, Serbia, changing its initial plans to expand infrastructure in Russia.

At the beginning of the month Parimatch removed its brand from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Parimatch had been operating in Russia through the Betring LLC.

At the time of the withdrawal Parimatch announced that it had set aside UAH30m to provide vital resources for those fighting for Ukraine. Parimatch later announced that it had doubled this to UAH60m (£1.5m/€1.8/$2.0m).

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) met with the Macau judiciary police, the region’s three gaming concessionaires and its three subconcessionaires “to discuss measures against illegal gaming websites”.

At the meeting, acting director of the DICJ Luo Lishan agreed that the Bureau will perform searches and collect information about illegal gaming websites, which it will then submit to the Judicial Police on a regular basis.

This information sharing, as well as the sharing of information between licensees and authorities, will take effect from 1 April.

Su Zhaoqiang, director of the gaming and economic crime investigation department of the Judicial Police, said that the police had started blocking illegal gambling websites in 2018, and ramped up its enforcement last year, with 1,352 sites blocked – more than the total number blocked from 2018 to 2020.

“Since the opening of the gambling rights in Macau, criminals have taken advantage of the popularity of Macau’s gaming industry to set up illegal gaming websites by impersonating the DICJ or fake Macau gaming companies to conduct gambling or even fraud, which not only causes property losses to tourists and citizens, but also to the Macao SAR,” the regulator said. “This has a negative impact on Macau’s image as a tourist destination.”

“The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau will continue to maintain close contact and cooperation with the Judiciary Police and the gaming industry to jointly crack down on illegal gaming sites, so as to safeguard social security and maintain the image of Macau.”

This marks Unibet’s seventh licence in North America.

Kindred will launch its online gaming and sports betting products through Unibet under Ontario’s open regulatory model.

Ontario’s online gaming market will launch on 4 April and will be overseen by iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

“This is an exciting day and a significant milestone for both Kindred and Unibet,” says Amanda Brewer, country manager Canada, Kindred Group. “We are proud to have received permission to launch in Ontario on the first day the market opens and look forward to building long-term relationships with our customers and partners.”

Several other operators secured licences ahead of the market launch, including Bet365, Flutter-owned FanDuel and PointsBet.

“Ontario is full of sports teams and passionate fans, which is no surprise given the history and popularity of the NHL, NBA and MLB leagues,” continued Brewer. “There will be no shortage of sports for fans to wager on when the market opens on 4 April.”

Google recently adjusted its advertising rules in Canada, to allow operators to run online sports betting, online casino and daily fantasy sports advertisements if they hold a relevant provincial licence.

A report in the Sunday Telegraph, published yesterday (27 March) claimed Camelot was preparing a legal challenge against the Gambling Commission because of the procedure by which it selected Allwyn to operate the lottery from 2025.

A Camelot spokesperson told iGB that the operator would not comment on the report.

According to the newspaper’s report, Camelot had initially received the highest score in a system where all bids were assessed with scorecards.

However, the report then alleged that the scoring system was changed to reduce the impact a “risk discount” that was applied to bids in order to take into account the possibility than an operator falls short of its projected target for good causes.

After this, the Telegraph claimed, Allwyn came out on top.

A Gambling Commission spokesperson told iGB that the regulator could not comment on the possibility of the legal challenge itself.

However, the spokesperson did address the claim that the competition had been run in an unfair manner. 

“We are confident that we have run a fair and robust competition,” they said. “We have taken every step possible to ensure a level playing field for all interested parties, to enable us to appoint a licensee who will engage and protect players, run the National Lottery with integrity and ensure the National Lottery continues to support good causes and their contribution to society.”

The Telegraph had previously reported that Camelot had been the highest-scoring bidder and so was expected to have its licence renewed, but the Gambling Commission denied this report.

Upon being selected, Allwyn said that the Gambling Commission had selected its bid because it “was judged to be the best way of growing returns to good causes by revitalising the National Lottery in a safe and sustainable way”.

Meanwhile, Camelot chief executive Nigel Railton said at the time that he was disappointed by the decision to select Allwyn, but that his business would continue to work on delivering a strong product and raising money for good causes until the third licence expires.

“I’m incredibly disappointed by today’s announcement, but we still have a critical job to do – as our current licence runs until February 2024, he said. “We’re now carefully reviewing the Gambling Commission’s evaluation before deciding on our next steps.

“I’m enormously grateful to our 1,000-plus employees who have been unwavering in delivering record-breaking results during the current licence.”