Slump in lotto sales a 'glitch' say chiefs

NATIONAL Lottery chiefs have insisted there is still a lot of love for lotto despite the first fall in profits since play began 16 years ago.

Sales of tickets and scratch cards were down by 5 million last year, a fall of just under 1% on their 2001 figure, while profits fell by 2.9 million or 1.6%.

The slump means there will be 2.9m less for the Government to distribute among eligible charities, voluntary groups and sporting and cultural organisations this year.

All the damage was done in the first nine months of 2002, however, and sales for October, November and

December were the highest for a fourth quarter period in the history of the games.

National Lottery chairman John Hynes said while it was a "disappointing year" overall, the recovery late in the year, and continued growth into the early months of this year proved the fall-off was only a glitch.

Blame for the drop in sales is being placed partly on the downturn in the economy but mainly on the introduction of the euro and resulting customer confusion and uncertainty about the value of the chances they bought and the prizes on offer.

"People genuinely did not know whether they were getting the same value for the same price," said lottery director Ray Bates. He said the company had tried to be a model euro user by converting prices exactly from penny to cent but this had caused uneven figures and awkward prices.

Throughout the year, products and prizes were changed so that even 1 and 2 prices could be charged, but it had taken time for customers to get acquainted with the new range.

The euro-changeover also required new technology as all the terminals in shops and other agents had to be converted and Mr Hynes said this limited the number of new scratch cards and once-off games that could be introduced in the year when new products always helped lift sagging sales.

"We have to innovate. If we get repetitive and have the same games every year, we know sales will drop."

Mr Bates denied the drop in business was a sign the lottery was reaching sales saturation point. He said 62% of Irish adults played lottery games regularly and 73% of people who played Lotto said yes to Lotto Plus.

"Fundamentally, we are sound. There is a 30% chance of a jackpot win on Wednesdays and a 38% chance on Saturdays, so there's a two in three chance of a roll-over and that's a very healthy position for a lottery."

Any sales lost to the British Lottery were made up by sales to customers from the North who travelled across the border to spend an estimated 10 million on National Lottery games each year.

Other features of lottery business during 2002 were increases in sales of Tellybingo and instant game scratch cards at the expense of the traditional Lotto ticket. This was partly due to the fact there were fewer big jackpots during the year than in 2001 but it was also felt the commissioning of quick-pick machines in 400 new outlets had contributed to the recent recovery of Lotto sales.