Loto-Québec Generates Impressive Growth In First Quarter Of Financial Year

Loto-Québec, the provincial lottery and gambling operator headquartered in Montreal, has released its performance data for the first quarter of the financial year and the records show strong growth in the lottery segment.

The first quarter of the 2021-2022 financial year ended on June 30, and for Loto-Québec it was a very positive period. The government-owned corporation recorded total revenue of 401.3 million Canadian dollars for the three months to 30 June, a figure which represents an increase of 154.9 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

The difference between the two periods is that in 2020 the company had most of its activities halted due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Most of the corporation’s physical locations only returned to action during June 2021, though, so the recorded revenue is still 38.8 percent lower compared to the first quarter of the 2019-2020 financial year, the last year before the pandemic.

The lottery segment accounted for most of the company’s revenue, it brought in 284.3 million Canadian dollars which represent an increase of 31.6 percent compared to the same quarter in 2019 and a sharp rise of 171.6 percent compared to the difficult 2020, when many retail agencies were closed for months.

Lottery draws drove in revenue of 203.2 million Canadian dollars, while online lottery products delivered revenue of 35.5 million Canadian dollars, an increase of 18.2 percent compared to the same period last year. One of the best performing products was Lotto Max, which had its best quarter since its launch in 2009.

The casino segment brought in 76.2 million Canadian dollars during the first quarter of the 2021-2022 financial year, but just 5.1 million of that came from land-based casinos. In fact, those venues had to stay closed until the final weeks of the quarter.

Loto-Québec’s online casino performed a lot better, generating 69.3 million Canadian dollars in revenue. That number represents a 31.4 percent increase compared to the same quarter in the 2020-2021 financial year.

That segment is expected to grow even further during the coming months, along with the company’s brand new sports betting offering. Since the end of the first quarter of the financial year, Loto-Québec has commenced offering sports betting on single events following the passing of the federal Bill C-218.

The group posted gross profit of 318.7 million Canadian dollars and consolidated net income for the quarter of 195.7 million, which represents an increase of 404.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year

However, the figure still represents a decrease of 42.0 percent compared to the same period of the last year before the pandemic. The difficult situation led to decisions designed to cut costs, and total expenses were cut by more than 60.7 million dollars.

Source: “Loto-Québec reports encouraging results“. Loto-Québec. September 15, 2021.