TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ) provides the ninth monthly trading update for the 2021/2022 financial year, with the results and highlights for April 2022.
The TAB continued to operate successfully through its online and retail channels throughout April, despite some impact to retail operations due to the current Omicron outbreak. The outbreak has had a continued impact on foot traffic in the retail and hospitality sector, although this eased towards the end of April once New Zealand passed the peak of the Omicron outbreak.
Racing and sports betting turnover and profit performed well despite fewer customers interacting with the retail and hospitality sector. Turnover in April was above budget for the second month in a row and, combined with a gross betting margin above budget, the gross betting revenue was also above budget. The peak of the Omicron outbreak in late March and the resulting effect on foot traffic in retail and on-course, was mitigated by the loosening of gathering restrictions for indoor and outdoor events, allowing race clubs to increase crowd capacities.
The TAB NZ Board has been able to maintain betting profit distributions at budgeted levels through the year to date. With funding from Betting Information Use Charges and the Betting Levy tracking above budget, this has meant that total distributions have been above budgeted expectations. The Board will continue to factor in potential developments in New Zealand’s response to Covid-19, how these might affect trading conditions and what this may mean for profit distributions.
Wagering Performance Summary
In April, the key performance results for TAB NZ were in line with the overall positive trends of the 2021/22 financial year. Turnover of $221.7m was 0.8% ($1.8m) above budget and gross betting revenue (GBR) of $37.0m was up on budget by 5.3% ($1.9m). The gross betting margin (GBM) of 16.7% was 0.7% up on budget.
Racing
Average NZ thoroughbred starters per race was 10.5, slightly below the Year To Date (YTD) average of 10.6, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was $2.6m on 2 April for the Sires Produce Stakes Raceday at Awapuni. Harness average starters per race was 10.4, slightly above the YTD average of 10.2, while the peak meeting turnover of $1.2m was on 1 April at Addington. For greyhound racing, the average starters per race was 7.6, matching the YTD average, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was $432k on 14 April at Cambridge.
Sport
The top sporting event by turnover for April was the US Masters Golf tournament at $1.01m followed by the Warriors vs Storm NRL on the 25th April at $0.77m. Basketball was the leading in-play sporting code accounting for 32% of in-play turnover while Rugby League was the top pre-match sporting code accounting for 29% of pre-match turnover.
April Operational Performance
- Reported Profit for the month was $15.3m, which was $0.4m above Budget.
- Operating Expenses were $9.6m for the month, which was $0.4 below Budget.
- Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 30 Apr 2022) Reported Profit was $124.4m, which was $0.8m above Budget and $14.7m below last year.
- Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 30 Apr 2022) Operating Expenses were $86.4m, which was $3.6m below Budget and $1.0m above last year
April Distributions
Racing Codes were paid $16.3m in distributions and other payments for April, versus $15.8m budgeted. This consisted of TAB NZ Betting Profit (listed as Fixed Distribution in the table below), offshore bookmaker commission fees, which are based on actual turnover (termed Betting Information Use Charges (BIUC) in the table below), and Betting Duty/Levy repeal.
Top 10 Racing events by turnover
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Top 10 Sporting events by turnover
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