Loto Quebec’s online gambling revenue up one-third

Quebec’s online gambling monopoly reported revenue up more than one-third in the first quarter of its current fiscal year, driven largely by larger lottery jackpots.

Last week, the Loto Quebec provincial gaming monopoly reported revenue of C$686.5m (US$521.5m) in the three months ending June 25, a 6.4% improvement over the previous year’s Q1. Net income fared even better, rising 10.7% to C$359.8m.

The mainstay lottery division was responsible for most of the gains, as a string of larger Lotto Max jackpots pushed lottery revenue up 22.5% to C$244.4m. Lotto Max sales jumped over 71% to C$62.3m, representing more than one-quarter of all lottery sales, thanks in part to a record-breaking C$60m prize won on June 8 by a Quebec resident.

Revenue at the province’s four land-based casinos was essentially flat at C$213.5m, due in part to the Casino de Montreal playing unlucky during the period. But Loto Quebec maintains that the most recent quarter had one less day than the previous period, and that casino sales would have actually risen 1.4% had the extra day been included in the current results.