Tab NZ misses revenue and profit budgets again in August

Gross betting revenue for the month amounted to NZ$31.5m (£15.9m/€18.3m/US$18.1m), which was down on budget by 6.0%, or $2.0m.

As a result, profit in August was below expectations at $10.4m, missing Tab NZ’s budget by $1.4m, while turnover also missed a $210.2m budget by $12.3m. 

This followed similar results in July, when Tab NZ also reported that it missed budgets for both revenue and profit.

Tab NZ said a combination of ongoing factors contributed to this, including soft economic conditions impacting customers’ discretionary spend, Covid-19-related mask restrictions in retail venues deterring a section of customers from visiting and race meetings being abandoned due to weather. 

August also again experienced a drop in starters across all three racing codes, maintaining a trend that began in April. 

Tab NZ also said that operating expenses for the month reached $10.5m, which was slightly ahead of budget by $300,000 as a result of restructuring costs and investments in customer retention and acquisition.

In terms of distribution, Tab NZ made $12.4m in total payments to Racing Codes during the month, which was marginally ahead of its initial budget at $12.3m.

Looking at betting activity, the most popular sporting event to wager on was the national team’s rugby union clash between New Zealand and Argentina on 27 August, which drew $978,000 in bets. For racing, the Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa on the same day attracted $500,000 in wagers.