Canadian lottery and casino operator Loto-Québec released its third-quarter financial report for the fiscal year 2022-2023, posting its best performance since the Tobacco Control Act came into force.
Impressive Financial Performance
Revenue during the quarter was C$2.225 billion ($1.61 billion), posting an increase of 30.7% from C$2.747 billion ($1.99 billion) in the third fiscal quarter of 2021-2022. Consolidated net income was C$1.204 billion ($872 million), up 32.6% from $1.499 billion in the respective quarter of the prior year.
“Our teams’ sustained efforts led us to these exceptional results and our best performance in 17 years,” said the president and chief executive officer of Loto-Québec, Jean-François Bergeron, outlining that the operator “will be able to pay a higher dividend than expected to the government,” which in turn will bring benefits to all residents of Quebec.
Compared to the three first quarters of the fiscal year 2019-2020, the increase in revenue is 5.8%, while net income is up 11.3%, suggesting the business is back there where it was when the pandemic struck. In the third fiscal quarter of 2022-2023 Loto-Québec’s expenses accounted for 28.2% of its revenue, while in 2019-2020, that ratio was 30.9%.
Thank you to our teams for incessantly improving our on-site and online entertainment offer, providing our customers with a quality experience and magical moments. The excitement our renewed programming and offer created is palpable at our casinos and gaming halls.
Jean-François Bergeron, CEO, Loto-Québec
For the period between September 27, 2022, and December 26, 2022, Loto-Québec minted 32 new millionaires bringing the total since the beginning of the fiscal year in April to 69, while paying a total of C$397.1 million ($287.8 million) to lottery, network bingo and Kinzo winners to take the year’s total to C$1.103 billion ($799 million).
Key Quarterly Highlights
During the quarter, the operator set up a new sportsbook at the Casino du Lac-Leamy, and followed with another at the Salon de jeux de Trois-Rivières shortly after the quarter end, while the latest phase of the 100% Legal campaign was focused on the local aspect seeking to keep 100% of the money played in Quebec.
Loto-Québec signed an agreement with Gestev for the handling of programming at the Théâtre du Casino du Lac-Leamy and introduce the producer’s lineup of performances to the public in the National Capital Region, much like Gestev has been doing at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal.
The operator also announced a responsible gaming campaign in October focusing on setting limits and encouraging players to voluntarily set time and loss limits and continued supporting causes and non-profit organizations, contributing more than C$1 million ($724,600) to causes this fall.
“Many acts of generosity highlighted this quarter, including our participation in the Government of Québec’s Entraide campaign,” Bergeron continued in his comments, outlining the company’s commitment to fighting against food insecurity “by organizing, among other things, activities benefiting the Moisson organizations.”
As part of its commitment to innovation in gaming and entertainment, Loto-Québec attended the MEGAMIGS festival and HUB Montréal and awarded several grants.