Camelot UK Lotteries Limited: Half-Year Financial Results

16 November 2016

During the period, Camelot generated direct returns for National Lottery Good Causes of £783 million¹ – over £30 million every week – taking the total delivered to date to more than £36 billion. National Lottery funding has now been awarded to a landmark 500,000 individual projects across the UK – the equivalent of 160 life-changing lottery grants in every neighbourhood.

Although elite sport only receives 4% of all money raised for Good Causes, two of the most high-profile recipients of National Lottery funding during the period were Team GB and ParalympicsGB. The impact of this funding was clear to see, with virtually all of Britain’s medallists in Rio supported by The National Lottery. Great Britain and Northern Ireland also made history as the first-ever host nation to improve on its home medal haul at the following Games. To thank National Lottery players for their huge contribution in making this sporting success possible, Camelot teamed up with ITV to stage ‘I Am Team GB’. Nearly one million people took part, making it the UK’s biggest ever sports day, and research shows that over four million people say they now feel inspired to be more active as a result.

Over the half-year, Camelot awarded £1,928 million in prizes to players and created 183 new lottery millionaires – more than one a day – taking the total amount awarded to date to over £61 billion and the total number of millionaires created since The National Lottery’s launch to more than 4,400. Combined with the Lottery Duty it pays to the Government and the commission earned by its retail partners, Camelot returns 95% of all revenue back to society.

This half-year’s total sales and returns to Good Causes compare with record-breaking sales of £3,615 million and returns of £875 million respectively for the corresponding six months last year. There were some encouraging signs of improvement over the summer this year, and the longer-term trend also remains very healthy, with total annual National Lottery sales growth of almost 50% since the start of Camelot’s third licence in 2009.

Sales across The National Lottery’s digital channels grew to a record £726 million over the half-year and were particularly strong through mobile, where sales climbed by 13.5%. The National Lottery’s GameStore range of online and in-store instant play games also performed strongly, with sales growing to a first-half high of £1,434 million following the launch of a series of innovative new games.

Sales of draw-based games picked up towards the end of the first half of 2016/17 after a challenging start, particularly over the first quarter. After a record-breaking end to the last financial year following last October’s changes to Lotto, the game had a comparatively quieter six months but its performance was buoyed towards the end of period by the special draw Camelot held to celebrate Team GB’s outstanding achievements in Rio and the success of the ‘I Am Team GB’ campaign. Lotto’s performance was also boosted after Camelot lowered the maximum level that the jackpot can reach to give players more ‘must be won’ moments. Since doing so, the jackpot has reached this ‘cap’ twice and, because it can no longer roll and must be won, it has made the game more appealing and exciting for players.

As anticipated ahead of September’s planned innovations, EuroMillions had another soft six months across the participating countries due to the continued lack of long roll series and huge jackpots. However, the innovative changes introduced at the end of the half-year to offer bigger jackpots more often and at least double the number of guaranteed UK millionaires have reinvigorated the game, with early analysis showing a 60% sales uplift. On top of that, the game has already seen one massive jackpot of £153 million and, in less than two months, a further 44 guaranteed UK prizes of £1 million.

Camelot CEO Andy Duncan said: “Despite the challenges we’ve faced over the last six months, our performance over the half-year still represents one of our best since The National Lottery’s launch in 1994 – and returning over £2.7 billion to Good Causes and players in just six months is no small achievement.

“With the current climate of economic uncertainty and signs that consumers are being more cautious with their spending, we expect the next six months to be similarly challenging. We’re also seeing no let-up in the direct, often aggressive, competition we’re facing from the wider gambling sector – especially from bet-on-lottery firms purporting to offer the same products as The National Lottery – and from large ‘umbrella-style’ society lotteries. But, with some great plans lined up, there’s still all to play for in the second half of the year – and we’ll be doing everything we can to deliver even more for our players and for the millions of people for whom National Lottery funding is so vital.”

– Ends –

¹Figures do not include investment returns on National Lottery balances which are reported separately.

For further information, please contact:
Camelot Press Office: 020 7632 5711

Notes to Editors:

• Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.
• Each week, Camelot generates over £30 million for National Lottery-funded projects – in total, £36 billion has now been raised and more than 500,000 individual grants have been made across the UK, the biggest programme of civic and social regeneration since the 19th Century.
• The National Lottery has so far awarded over £61 billion in prizes and created more than 4,400 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.
• Camelot runs the most cost-efficient major lottery in Europe, with around 4% of total revenue spent on operating costs.
• The UK National Lottery is ranked at just 52nd in the world in terms of per capita spend, despite being the fifth largest lottery in the world by sales – clear evidence of Camelot’s longstanding commitment to being a responsible operator (Source: La Fleur’s 2016 World Lottery Almanac).
• In the six months to 24 September 2016, total National Lottery sales were £3,389.6 million, a decrease of £225.9 million on the corresponding period in 2015/16.
• Total returns to Good Causes over the half-year were £783.4 million, a decrease of £92.2 million on the previous year.
• The National Lottery created 183 millionaires and awarded £1,928.8 million during the period, a decrease of £83.6 million on the interim figure last year.
• Total GameStore sales over the period increased by £10.8 million to a record £1,434.8 million, while total sales of draw-based games were £1,954.8 million, a decrease of £236.7 million on the corresponding period last year.
• Over the same period, total digital (interactive and subscription) sales were a record £726.3 million, an increase of £12.5 million on last year. Sales through mobile were £284.7 million, an increase of £33.9 million on the previous year. Sales through smartphones and tablets now account for almost 40% of all digital sales.
• Leading the field of digital lottery innovation and e-commerce, Camelot operates Europe’s largest online lottery in terms of sales. With over eight million registered players, national-lottery.co.uk is also one of the top 10 e-commerce sites in the UK.
• Total in-store sales over the period were £2,663.3 million, a decrease of £238.4 million on the previous year. Accounting for almost 80% of all sales, retail remains the largest National Lottery sales channel.
• For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk.
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over.