Supreme Ventures Limited’s net profit plunged by 71 per cent from year-earlier levels to $66 million during the three months to June 30, 2010.

While revenues increased marginally by 1.2 per cent to $6.1 billion, expenses increased 12 per cent to $561 million. Operating profits also declined by 63 per cent, from $324.6 million in June 2009, to $119.9 million in the 2010 period.

The period under review was a difficult one for SVL noted president and CEO Brian George.

The continued decline in remittances, not only affected discretionary spending, critical for the nature of its lottery business; but also the money transfer service, Money Gram. Additionally, the effect of the extraordinary event surrounding the call of a state of emergency also impacted performance in the quarter.

“The economic challenges have affected the growth of the core lottery business and this is evidenced in the performance reported for the period under review,” said George. “The Group’s performance for the period under review was also impacted by the unsettled environment in May and June, as several of our retail outlets and gaming lounges had to be closed for some days and/or operated with reduced opening hours. These closures resulted in losses for the group.”

The quarter also saw the increase in operating expenses being driven by the launch of two new ventures: Acropolis Portmore, and Supreme Ventures Sports Betting with the JustBet brand being launched just in time for the World Cup, which took place in June.

At the same time, revenues from foreign exchange declined 46 per cent over the corresponding quarters to $7.5 million arising from the conversion of long term receivables from the subsidiary SGL BVI Limited, a company incorporated in the US. While the payments would have been due in the quarter, they were converted to the last day of January, April, July and October, with final payment due October 31, 2012.

“The company is reviewing the present arrangements and to the extent that the obligations are not met in accordance with the agreement, appropriate impairment will be assessed and reflected in future results,” said George.

For the period ended June 2010, the lottery segment continues to provide the majority of revenues, amounting to over $10.8 billion, the sale of pin codes returning $944.7 million is the second largest income earner followed by gaming and hospitality, $521 million, and financial services, $74 million. SVL promotes the Cash Pot, Lucky 5, Dollaz!, Lotto, Super Lotto and Pick 3 games.