Hong Kong-listed China Vanguard Group Ltd, a company providing services to the mainland China lottery market, posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of HKD7.6 million (US$980,561) for the three months ended September 30. That compares to a profit of HKD3.5 million in the prior-year period, the firm said in a filing on Friday.
China Vanguard reported revenue of HKD17.3 million for the three-month period, down 13 percent from a year earlier. Revenue from its lottery-related business however increased by 13.7 percent year-on-year, the company said.
The firm said other interests related to property “did not make any revenue contributions” during the three months to September 30, “which caused the major decline in revenue”. In the prior-year period, the company reported HKD4.7 million in revenue from the property business.
China Vanguard’s lottery business covered 21 provinces and regions of mainland China as of September 30, according to Friday’s filing.
Mainland China’s total official lottery sales in the first nine months of this year reached RMB271.9 billion (US$42.5 billion), down 2.7 percent year-on-year, according to official data from the country’s Ministry of Finance. China’s welfare lottery sales between January and September fell by 1.0 percent year-on-year to RMB148.9 billion, while sports lottery sales were RMB123 billion, down 4.7 percent.
China Vanguard said its operating expenses increased by 19 percent year-on-year to HKD24.1 million in the July to September period. “The increase in operating expenses over the period was due to the group’s continuous efforts in developing its lottery-related operations,” China Vanguard said.
China Vanguard posted a net profit of HKD19.1 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, up by 28 percent from the prior-year period.
