The statutory body that offers betting services to residents in New Zealand, TAB New Zealand, released its trading update covering the performance in August this year.
TAB Gross Betting Revenue in August Down on Budget by 6%
Acknowledging the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing soft economic conditions, the operator revealed that its performance in August 2022 did not improve when compared to previous periods. In fact, the results marked another month with declining trends that started back in April this year. Overall, TAB New Zealand’s gross betting revenue (GBR) was down in August to NZ$31.5 million ($17.8 million). This marked a decrease of NZ$2.0 million ($1.1 million) or 6% on budget.
“In August, the first month of the 2022/23 financial year, key performance results for TAB NZ were slightly down on the overall positive trends of the previous financial year. Turnover of $197.9m was 5.8% ($12.3m) below budget. GBR of $31.5m was down on budget by 6.0% ($2.0m) and GBM of 15.9% was 0.1 percentage points below budget,“
reads a statement released by TAB New Zealand
Not unexpectedly, the result in August was impacted in terms of gross betting margin (GBM). In August, GBM halted at 15.9% or 0.1% below budget, according to TAB New Zealand. Similarly, the operator reported a decline in turnover. The overall turnover in August was NZ$197.9 million, down NZ$12.3 million ($7 million) or 5.8% below budget.
According to data released by TAB New Zealand, the average thoroughbred starters per race during august hit 10.3. This marked a slight decrease when compared to the FY22 average which was 10.6. The operator did acknowledge that it recorded a peak turnover of NZ$2.4 million ($1.36 million) during the Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate Raceday event at Te Rapa on August 27.
Pandemic Restrictions Impact TAB’s Performance
The monopoly for New Zealand’s sports betting market acknowledged that multiple factors impacted its performance in August. Such factors included the mask restrictions introduced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This, according to TAB, discouraged some visitors from accessing retail venues.
“A combination of ongoing factors have contributed to August’s result, including the continuing soft economic conditions that impact our customers’ discretionary spend, mask restrictions in retail venues through the month deterring a section of customers from visiting, and race meetings being abandoned due to weather,“
explained TAB
Additionally, the monopoly acknowledged that some race meetings did not take place due to weather conditions. Still, the monopoly outlined that despite the spread of Omicron, New Zealand remained at the Orange level, which allowed it to continue operating its retail outlets.