No $100m, $50m draws cut $350m from Lotto Corp revenue

No huge $100m and $50m jackpots have sunk The Lottery Corporation to a 22 per cent dip in profit.

Full-year financial results posted Wednesday show no $100m Powerball for the first time in five years, and no $50m draw for the first time in nine years, cost the company $350m in lost revenue. The lack of these draws was a once-in-a-45-year outcome, chief executive Wayne Pickup said.

“Where we control the levers, we performed well, with healthy retention of price increases in our two largest games – Powerball and Saturday lotto – and continued growth in base games and Keno,” Mr Pickup said.

“Our expense discipline was structural, not a one-off. It gives us room to reinvest in digital, AI, product and customer capability.”

The $100m and $50m Powerballs weren’t run because “jackpot outcomes are inherently variable” but “even out over time”.

For the year, Lottery Corp revenue declined by 2.7 per cent to $3.58bn.

The revenue losses from no large Powerballs were partly offset by a price hike for Powerball tickets in November.

A 40-year extension of the lottery licence with Victoria this year also bolstered the business’ outlook.

Shareholders get a total ordinary dividend of 16 cents per share, fully franked, the same result as the previous year.

Originally published as No $100m, $50m draws cut $350m from Lotto Corp revenue