TAB NZ posts turnover of US$152m for October

Turnover was slightly above budget but gross betting revenue came in below expectations.

New Zealand.- TAB NZ has shared its financial results for October. It’s posted turnover of NZ$239.4m (US$152m), 2.7 per cent (NZ$6.2m) above budget. Gross betting revenue (GBR) was NZ$36.4m (US$23m), down on budget by 3.9 per cent (NZ$1.5m). Gross betting margin (GBM) was 15.2 per cent, 1 percentage point below budget.

According to Tab NZ, retail traffic remained steady following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, and overall field sizes increased across all three codes. The mixed results were attributed to factors including race abandonments, intense competition from offshore operators, and a decrease in average bet size in key segments due to economic conditions.

The highest-grossing sporting event in October was the NRL final between Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels with a turnover of NZ$1.49m. Basketball was the leading in-play sporting code, accounting for 30 per cent of pre-game revenue, while football, rugby union and basketball were the top pre-match singles sporting codes, accounting for 19 and 16 per cent of pre-game sales, respectively.

The average number of thoroughbred starts per race in New Zealand was 10.6, above the YTD average of 10.3, while the peak turnover was NZ$4.0m on October 15 at Hastings for the Livamol Classic. 

On October 24, Ashburton’s harness meeting had a peak turnover of NZ$1.7m with 10.6 starters per race, above the YTD average of 9.9. For greyhound racing, the average starters per race were 7.3, matching the YTD average, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was NZ$466k on October 13 at Addington.

TAB NZ said: “Due to the continued economic challenges that are forecast to continue for some time, the TAB NZ Board has signalled to the racing codes that it will reduce distributions by nine per cent in the 2022/23 financial year (year ended July 31 2023). 

“Factoring in other distributions derived through New Zealand racing, overall distributions will be around NZ$160m for this financial year.”