Tab NZ to reduce racing distributions as betting revenue and profit miss budgets

Betting revenue and profit have been below budget for a number of consecutive months, despite Tab NZ reporting strong retail traffic following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions and larger overall field sizes across all codes.

However, other factors such as race abandonments, competitive pressure from unregulated online offshore operators and wider economic conditions impacted operations again in October.

Tab NZ said these factors meant it would have to reduce distributions to racing codes by 9% for the financial year ended 31 July 2023. The body is expected to pay NZ$160.0m (£83.5m/€96.8m/US$101.8m) in distributions for the period.

Tab NZ October revenue

Looking at the October performance, gross betting revenue reached NZ$35.4m, missing Tab NZ’s initial budget by 3.9%, while turnover was $239.4m and below budget by 2.7%.

Reported profit for the month was $12.0m, behind budget by $3.1m. Betting profit stood at $10.5m, below a target budget of $13.7m, though gaming profit was slightly ahead of its $1.4m budget at $1.5m.

Operating expenses amounted to $11.1m, above budget by $1.1m, while distributions and payments were actually higher than a $16.4m budget and $16.7m, despite the decision to reduce payments over the course of 2022-23.

The rugby league clash between Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels drew the highest level of interest among consumers, with $1.5m bet on the game. For racing, the Carlton Draught Caulfield Cup at Caulfield came out on top with $833,000 in total bets.