Greyhounds in Australia: GRNSW posts full-year loss of US$10.9m

Results were impacted by a softer wagering market.

Australia.- Greyhound Racing New South Wales (GRNSW) has shared its financial results for the 2023/24 financial year. It posted an AU$16.7m (US$10.9m) loss amid a softer wagering market across all racing products and ongoing inflationary pressures.

Wagering on greyhound racing was down 8 per cent in year-on-year terms to AU$2.67bn, while wagering income from TAB and corporate bookmakers also fell. Race Fields Information Use (RFIU) fees dropped by AU$4.8m.

Expenditure rose by AU$15m, while AU$55.2m in prize money and travel support was allocated to participants. That’s a rise of 4.99 per cent compared to the last year. The investment in track safety rose 172 per cent year-on-year to AU$10.2m while the Greyhound Care Scheme 2.0 (GCS 2.0) allocated AU$1.44m in rebates to participants.

The occurrence of catastrophic injuries reached the lowest level since record-keeping began in 2015-16, decreasing to 0.21 per 1,000 starts, a drop from 0.65 in 2022-23.

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Wayne Billett, GRNSW acting chief executive officer, said: “Like for many organisations, FY23-24 presented its challenges to our operating environment. Similar to other racing organisations across the country, the softer wagering market significantly impacted GRNSW’s income.

“We invested over AU$6m in the state-of-the-art Taree track upgrade and continued to develop the US adoption pathways program, which, in its first full year of operation, successfully rehomed 668 greyhounds in North America.

“GRNSW has taken prudent steps to align our cost base with forecasted wagering market performance. I’m particularly pleased that, thanks to the strong results from previous years, we maintained full support for our participants and animal welfare initiatives, reaffirming our pursuit of excellence throughout FY23-24.”

See also: GRV posts full-year results