Allwyn takes a “fresh look” at the National Lottery as the UK’s selling flag
The boss of the National Lottery’s new owner, Allwyn, said he wanted to revive the game as sales in Britain fall due to the cost of living crisis and ahead of next year’s licensing switch.
Robert Chvatal, chief executive of the Czech company, said Britain performed worse than the rest of the group in the first six months of 2023 as consumer spending came under pressure.
In the UK, Camelot’s business reported an overall sales decline of 3% on a comparable and constant currency basis in the second quarter, although this was also due to “exceptional” EuroMillions rollovers in the previous year.
UK sales rose 1% on a reported basis to €980.3 million (£838.8 million) in the three months to the end of June.
Camelot has done it its way for 30 years… this is a new opportunity to take a fresh look at how we can do it in the next 10 years
Mr Chvatal told the PA news agency the UK was the slowest-growing division of the group, which also operates lotteries in Austria, Italy and Greece.
He said: “It is a cost of living crisis, it is also an expectation of what will happen after the fourth license and transition.”
“We have to work on this in the longer term.”
Mr Chvatal added that the UK business was “in a bit of a limbo now as we are between licenses”.
“For 30 years Camelot has done it its way… this is a new opportunity to take a fresh look at how we can do it in the next 10 years.
“If you look at it with fresh eyes, things could benefit.”
Allwyn is preparing to take the reins of the next national lottery license from February next year, having won the contract from Camelot last year.
Allwyn’s takeover of Camelot ended a bitter legal battle between the companies following the Gambling Commission’s decision, although the two companies continue to operate separately.
Allwyn’s figures showed its UK adjusted profit rose 18% to 50 million euros (£42.8 million) in the second quarter, but Mr Chvatal said the group remained focused on driving sales growth.
Overall, Allwyn’s sales almost doubled to €3.7bn (£3.2bn) in the six months to June 30, up from €1.9bn (£1.6bn) a year earlier.
Sales rose 115% to 2.05 billion euros (1.8 billion pounds) in the second quarter, the group said.
Current trends are consistent with the resilience of our sales during previous periods of weaker overall consumer sentiment
Performance was boosted by the acquisition of Camelot UK and Camelot Lottery Solutions, operator of the Illinois Lottery, in the first quarter of 2023.
After spinning off the newly acquired business, revenue rose 12% to €2.1bn (£1.8bn) in the first half and 7% in the second quarter, according to Allwyn.
Adjusted profit, excluding the Camelot business, rose 18% to 649.8 million euros (£555.9 million) in the half-year.
The group said consumer confidence was being hit by the cost of living crisis but that its overall business had “limited impact”.
It said demand remained stable “due to the low price of our products and low average spend per customer, as well as our large number of repeat players.”
Allwyn also said its business was insulated from much of the general cost inflation because “a significant portion of our costs are directly related to revenue and the small proportion of energy in our cost base.”
It added that trading had continued to hold steady since the end of June “despite the backdrop of relatively weak overall consumer sentiment.”
“Current trends are consistent with the resilience of our sales during previous periods of weaker overall consumer sentiment – for example, in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Greek financial crisis and the global financial crisis – when demand for our products remained stable.” particularly when compared to other consumer sectors,” Allwyn said.
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/allwyn-to-take-fresh-look-at-national-lottery-as-uk-sales-flag-b1104939.html Allwyn takes a “fresh look” at the National Lottery as the UK’s selling flag
