Higher selling and administrative expense blamed

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Regional gaming company, Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) saw its profits fall in the  first quarter ended March 31, 2023. 

Net profit went down to J$712 million, representing a decline of J$290.43 million or 28.97% compared to the comparable period in 2022. The lower profits were attributable to higher selling and administrative expenses of J$222 million or 13.58% higher. 

Executive Chairman, Gary Peart reports, “this increase in expenditure represents costs associated with our preparation to enter the Ghanaian market as a service provider and other strategic initiatives expected to ‘bear fruit’ in the third quarter going forward. The Group achieved gross ticket sales of $27.76 billion, relatively flat in relation to Q1 2022.”

SVL attained gross revenues of J$12.9 billion, an increase of J$149 million or 1.17% over Q1 2022. Direct costs amounted to J$10.0 billion, a year-over-year increase of J$205 million or 2.08%. 

Slight increase in customer winnings

Total customer winnings amounted to J$21.76 billion for Q1 2023, representing an increase of 5.63% over the prior year. Total costs include contributions to government agencies and related bodies of over J$2.89 billion. 

Peart points out that, “SVL continues to be one of the largest contributors to the government at multiple times our profitability, putting back over 93.00% of our earnings into the Jamaican economy via prizes, fees, taxes, and operational payments.” The earnings per share of 26.60 cents as at March 31, 2023, enabled the Group to approve interim dividends to external shareholders of 23.94 cents for the three months ending March 31, 2023. 

Total assets attributable to shareholders increased by J$295 million to J$18.49 billion. For Q1, the operating segments recorded results of J$959 million, a decrease of J$278 million or 22% in relation to Q1 2022. 

Negative impact of higher expenses

Increased selling and administrative expense by J$325.7 million impacted negatively on net profit for Q1 2023. The Group generated positive cash flows from operations of J$827 million to close on March 31st, 2023 with a balance of J$3.26 billion, representing a decrease of J$167 million compared to Q1 2022.

According to the SVL Executive Chairman, “digital innovations such as our lottery online platform SV Games, access to sports betting online through Just Bet Mobile, casino type games with Acropolis Online and horseracing through MBet are all growing mobile channels from which we expect great things to continue. Our flagship lottery products continue to grow and the introduction of the “Scratchaz” games has been an overwhelming success.”

The SVL group’s digitization is comprehensive and its potential for growth is exponential.