TAB NZ August results surpass expectations

Sports betting turnover grew 36 per cent with racing up 10 per cent year-on-year. 

New Zealand.- TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ) has reported that its financial results for August surpassed expectations, benefiting from a condensed calendar of sporting events.

In the first month of its 2020/21 financial year, the sports betting company said results surpassed last year’s and beat projections for the month.

Net profit hit AU$12.8 million (US$9.12 million), which was AU$1.7 million (US$1.21 million) above its forecast and AU$1.4 million (US$998,302) above the same month in 2019.

Betting profits reached AU$11.9 million (US$8,48 million), and gaming profits AU$1.4 million (US$998,420).

Total gaming revenue, however, was below forecast at AU$0.6 million (US$427,894) due to Covid-19 measures taken in Auckland, where betting shops were closed for 19 days of the month.

Sports turnover rose 36 per cent due to sports seasons and events overlapping where they traditionally would not. TAB NZ said this had helped to drive customer engagement levels.

Racing turnover increased a 10.1 per cent year-on-year, with no significant increase in the volume of races but a 4 per cent increase in the number of customers compared to July.

TAB NZ said this was a result of a change of habits since those who used to bet only on domestic racing prior to the Covid-19 lockdown “have maintained their overseas racing activity while their domestic racing activity has returned back to prior levels.”

In August, the company had 94,000 customers, which in some days showed peaks similar to those normally seen for the Melbourne Cup or the NZ Cup Week.

Although results surpassed expectations, the TAB NZ board said it “remains cautious at this early stage of the season on the ability to meet full year projections.

“This is given the ongoing uncertainty presented by Covid-19 and the potential for further disruption to domestic and international product supply.”