Tatts reveals revenue growth, profit drop in first half

Tatts Group has reported a mixed set of financial results for the first half of the year, with revenue up year-on-year but profit falling.

Revenue from group operations in the six month to December 31, 2017, came in at Aus$1.48bn (€936.9m/U$S.15bn), up 4.2% on the corresponding period in the previous year.

Tatts cited a strong run of jackpots in the first half as the main reason behind this increase, with revenue from its lotteries division up 6.2% to Aus$1.08bn.

However, net profit after tax (NPAT) before significant items dropped 2.9% year-on-year to Aus$127.8m, while statutory NPAT was also down by 16.6% to Aus$102.3m

Tatts said its statutory NPAT was impacted by merger costs related to the recent link-up with Tabcorp of Aus$36.4m, or Aus$25.5m after tax, together with various corporate items.

Tabcorp and Tatts merged in December to create a combined business worth approximately Aus$11bn.

Without these corporate items, NPAT before significant items showed a rise of 7.2% on a year-on-year basis.

Last month, Tabcorp, which is now the parent company of Tatts, also reported its financial results for the first half, showing year-on-year revenue growth of 18.7%.

However, like Tatts, Tabcorp saw losses across NPAT, as well as earnings before tax, before significant items.

Related article: Tabcorp reveals revenue growth in first half