Pacific Lottery has received exclusive approval to broadcast the 30-minute Hanoi Lottery Draw nightly beginning from Monday on State-run television. The programme will use the Calgary-based firm’s national online lottery technology to present the winning combinations for the various games offered by the State-owned Lottery Corporation.

The Canadian firm revealed that its marketing personnel would also assist the government with the development, launch and ongoing production of this new prime-time televised lottery show. It also stated that it expects to ‘significantly increase’ its national marketing efforts in Vietnam’s only State-authorised online lottery programme.

“We are extremely gratified by the continuing confidence the government has shown in us through its ongoing strong support of the nation’s only online lottery programme,” said David Aftergood, founder of Pacific Lottery.

“This development marks a major milestone in the ongoing progress of the Vietnamese lottery programme and will also significantly assist in the boosting of our brand nationally in Vietnam and regionally throughout South East Asia.”

Pacific Lottery stated that it had purchased a new ball draw machine from SmartPlay International Incorporated of New Jersey to use during the Vietnam show.

In addition, it revealed that the Lottery Corporation is to start selling its new Two Digit/Pair proprietary online lottery game in order to combat an illegal lottery. Pacific Lottery stated that this is the first time that a game similar to the illegal lottery has been authorised for use by the Vietnamese public and it expects that the new title will directly compete with the unauthorised but well-known version.

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The Calgary-based firm reported revenues of $5.8 million for the same period last year and stated that the recent decrease was due to a decline in revenues from both casino and poker as it experienced increased competition.

Chartwell revealed that it had also experienced higher software development and support expenses alongside increased administrative and general charges during the quarter as it continues to focus on expanding its online gaming content as well as the services it provides to customers.

The Canadian firm reported a net loss for the first quarter of $700,000 compared to a profit of $900,000 for the same period last year while also stating that its earnings before tax declined from a positive $1.8 million to a negative $400,000. Chartwell revealed that cashflow from operations before working capital adjustments similarly declined from $1.4 million to $100,000.

Chartwell released Version 7.0 of its gaming software system during the quarter, which added new games to its portfolio alongside extensive back office enhancements, while also entering into a multi-title licensing agreement with Paramount Digital Entertainment International.

“The company started this fiscal year with challenges to revenue growth as a few of our clients introduced additional gaming products from other suppliers,” said Alan Richter, Chief Financial Officer for Chartwell.

“The increased competition intensifies our resolve to focus on the depth and breadth of our product and services offerings. We have increased our investment in product and service delivery and we are confident that our unique capabilities in these areas as well as our new sales opportunities should return the company to profitable growth in the near future.”

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Revenues for the previous financial year were $17.02 million, the Calgary-based firm reported, with these latest figures representing an increase of over 13 percent.

In addition, Chartwell revealed record cash flow from operations of $7.22 million, which was up 77.3 percent from the $4.09 million it reported for the 2007 financial year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization almost doubled from $2.48 million to $4.81 million while net income was reported at $2.24 million, which was up from the net loss of $67,461 it declared for the prior year.

In the shorter term, the firm revealed that revenues for the year’s fourth quarter came in at $4.09 million, which compared favourably to the $3.93 million it reported for the same period on 2007, mainly due to an increase in service returns. Net income for the fourth quarter was $186,322 as compared to a net loss of $883,513 in 2007 while software development and support expenses increased significantly to $2.16 million from $1.76 million.

Along with record financial results, Chartwell also stated that it had invested in its future by delivering more games and upgrades than at any other time in its history. It deployed eight new casino soft games alongside nine slot titles with a further eight games nearing completion toward the end of 2008.

“The company executed its strategy very well in 2008,” said Alan Richter, Chief Financial Officer for Chartwell.

“We have a very focused strategy of getting more content out to our customers as efficiently as possible. Being efficient has meant managing expenses carefully, investing in our people, investing in improving our service delivery capability in Europe, broadening the services we offer and taking advantage of tax incentives and planning opportunities as available to us.”

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