Jumbo Interactive GmbH
AWARDED LICENSES IN ALL GERMAN STATES
Jumbo Interactive GmbH / Key word(s): Regulatory Approval – AWARDED LICENSES IN ALL 16 GERMAN STATES TO SELL OFFICIAL GERMAN LOTTERIES VIA WEB AND MOBILE. – WEBSITE PROGRESSING QUICKLY TOWARDS LAUNCH BEFORE END 2013. – THE INTERNET LOTTERY MARKET SIZE IN GERMANY IS EXPECTED TO GROW TO A$2 BILLION OVER 5 YEARS. Leading interactive lottery business, Jumbo Interactive (ASX: JIN), is pleased to announce that it’s German subsidiary (Jumbo Interactive GmbH) has been awarded licenses for an initial period of 5 years in all 16 German states, permitting the Company to begin selling official German lotteries across the whole country via web and mobile. ‘Jumbo now has all the licenses it needs to start selling across the entire country. Our team is working quickly to release the website before the end of 2013’, said Mr Mike Veverka, CEO of Jumbo Interactive Limited. ‘Based on trends in neighbouring countries, the German Internet lottery market is expected to reach A$2.0 billion in 5 years’, he said. The current total market size for German lotteries is A$10 billion and neighbouring countries such as Austria and Finland have already reached 20% to 30% Internet lottery sales. ‘Jumbo’s 13 years’ experience in growing Internet lotteries in Australia together with our industry-leading software platform places us in a good position as the German Internet lottery market opens up’, said Mr Veverka. Licenses and Operations Jumbo Interactive GmbH (a wholly owned subsidiary of Jumbo Interactive Limited) has received non-exclusive licenses for an initial 5-year period to sell official German lottery games on the web and mobile including the EuroJackpot, Lotto 6 from 49, Keno, Plus 5, Super 6, Spiel 77 and GlücksSpirale. The licenses permit the games to be sold to an estimated 68 million eligible players in all 16 German states. The EuroJackpot is the largest game in Germany with a minimum jackpot of EUR10 million and a maximum of EUR90 million. The game is also played in 13 other European countries including Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia and Lithuania. Jumbo’s Internet lottery software platform has been in constant development in Australia for 13 years and is now being adapted for the German market. This provides Jumbo with a key advantage in the Germany market and ensures all players receive the best available online experience. ‘There is significant potential in the German online lottery market and Jumbo has the experience and software platform to grow quickly’, said Mr Gerhard Sparrer, Managing Director for Germany. The business model will be similar to Australia with a commission earned on tickets sold. Jumbo plans to invest in marketing to establish a customer database of regular players. In Australia, Jumbo successfully accumulated a database of over 1.5 million accounts from a population of 23 million. As the number of players increase, the gap between income and expenses decreases until a break-even point is reached and the business becomes profitable. ‘In Australia, the time to reach profitability was around 2 to 3 years. I expect much the same timeframe for any new jurisdiction, including Germany and Mexico, with losses per jurisdiction reducing over this time from a peak of around $2m to $3m in the first year’, said Mr Mike Veverka. ‘In terms of cash flow, it is estimated that about $2m to $3m will be required per jurisdiction which will be funded out of Jumbo’s existing cash reserves and future net cash inflows of the Group. We’ll be able to better quantify the effects on profitability and cash flow once the businesses have been trading for a short while’, he said. Operational Agreements with State Lottery Operators The next step in the process is to obtain operational agreements with each lottery operator in each of the 16 German states. To date, agreements have been reached with 3 states (Schleswig-Holstein, Baden Weurttemberg and Berlin) and agreements with the remaining 13 states are expected to be completed over the next few months. About Jumbo Interactive Jumbo Interactive Limited is listed in Australia (ASX:JIN) as well as the German Frankfurt, Berlin and Stuttgart exchanges (Symbol: JUB). In 2000, the Company sold its first lottery ticket on the Internet and since then has developed www.ozlotteries.com into a popular place for lotteries to be played. Jumbo has recently expanded from the A$4 billion Australian lottery market into the A$64 billion North American and Latin American lottery markets, increasing the population base from 22 million to 400 million people. In addition to this, Jumbo is in the process of establishing operations in the $10 billion German lottery market to increase the population base a further 80 million to 480 million people. Jumbo employs over 90 staff, has its headquarters in Brisbane and plays an important role in the Australian lottery industry with over A$22 million in additional State Government revenue raised from sales in 2012, A$17 million in 2011 and A$15 million in 2010. For further information: End of financial news 11.07.2013 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP’s Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de |
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