China lottery services specialist China Vanguard Group Ltd recorded an unaudited HKD25.85 million (US$3.3 million) loss for the six months to December 31.
In the prior year period, the firm made a profit of HKD15.06 million.
“The group’s performance has continued to be influenced by the overall retrenchment in the [China] lottery industry during the review period that has carried on from the previous reporting period,” said the company in its interim results filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Mainland China’s total sales of official lottery products fell by 3.8 percent in 2015, to RMB367.9 billion (US$55.9 billion), according to data from the country’s Ministry of Finance publicised last month.
Welfare lottery sales decreased by 2.2 percent year-on-year to RMB201.5 billion in 2015, while sports lottery sales declined 5.7 percent to RMB166.4 billion.
China Vanguard’s unaudited consolidated revenue for the six months to December 31 was HKD21.2 million, a decrease of 68.5 percent against the prior-year period, when it was HKD67.2 million.
The decline in revenue was due to “decrease in revenue from the lottery-related business and no contribution from property related business,” said the firm.
The firm said in its results filing that it had successfully secured lottery-related operating agreements in 21 Chinese provinces and regions as at the financial year-end 2015, “accessing 65 percent of the People’s Republic of China’s population”.
