iGaming Business – The New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) experienced growth in betting and gaming turnover during the six months to January 31, 2014, despite having described the first half of the year as “challenging”
The national bookmaker recorded turnover of NZ$1.1 billion (€654.2 million/$896.8 million) for the first-half of the year, an increase of 2% on the NZ$1 billion achieved in corresponding period last year. Total income also increased from NZ$157.8 million in the previous year to NZ$159.9 million in the latest period. However, the board did suffer a slight drop in net profit before distributions, which fell from NZ$73.7 million in the first half of last year to NZ$72.6 million in the most recent period.
Chris Bayliss, chief executive officer of the NZRB, said: “We are satisfied with progress to date, the underlying business is performing well. “However the focus has to be keeping our strategy and projects on track while ensuring we closely monitor costs.
“It has been a challenging six months, as has been noted by other New Zealand operators in both the entertainment and retail sectors. The second half of our financial year will prove equally challenging.
