Loto-Quebec’s online revenue tops $100m for the first time … again

Quebec’s provincial gambling monopoly posted over C$100m in annual online revenue for the second year in a row, or the first time, depending on whom you choose to believe.

On Thursday, the provincial government’s gambling monopoly Loto-Quebec reported total revenue of C$2.83b (US$2.1b) in the 12 months ending March 31 while net income rose 5.4% to C$1.4b. The revenue total represents annual growth of 3.1%, which won’t make any sense to anyone who looks at the previous year’s report, which says annual revenue totaled C$3.8b.

The wonky math is apparently the result of a new accounting process for Loto-Quebec’s mainstay lottery division, as well as bingo and other minor verticals. So, according to the accountants, lottery revenue was up 8.7% to C$955.7m, although that’s half the sum the vertical reported last year. Confused yet?

Fortunately, they’re still counting land-based casino revenue by the same standards. Unfortunately, the four venues in the province were essentially flat year-on-year at C$917.9m. The gaming establishments (VLTs in bars and other venues) vertical slipped 0.2% to C$979.5m.