Former Chinese online sports lottery operator 500.com slowed its net losses in the third quarter but its cash reserves continue to evaporate.

On Tuesday, the Shenzhen-based, Nasdaq-listed 500.com reported revenue of RMB9.8m (US$1.4m) in the three months ending September 30, a modest RMB100k improvement over the same period last year. Operating losses narrowed to RMB98.4m ($13.8m) from RMB138.3m in Q3 2018, while net losses similarly improved to RMB95.8m from RMB137.8m a year ago.

500.com has been struggling ever since the spring of 2015, when China ordered a halt to all online lottery sales after uncovering massive corruption amongst provincial lottery administrators. 500.com was one of only two companies that was formally authorized by Beijing to conduct online sales, although the reality was that multiple companies were offering online lottery products.

500.com has attempted to diversify its business, including signing land-based lottery sales deals in several Chinese provinces and acquiring The Multi Group Ltd (TMG), which operates the European-facing Multilotto online casino and lottery betting business.