GTECH betting on TT —Quick pick for profit$

In an interview at the company’s 15th anniversary celebrations at the Trindad Hilton and Conference Centre last week, Patel, who heads Lottomatica’s US subsidiary GTECH, said this country was a big part of GTECH’s Latin American market and gaming was thriving. Lottomatica is an Italian company that holds a controlling interest in GTECH.

In his view, lottery will continue to grow here. “We look at Trinidad and Tobago as a long term operation,” Patel said. “Customers here are very important.”.

Trinidad and Tobago showed lottery sales of close to TT$1.5 billion in 2008, Patel said in an interview at the hotel.

In his address, he referred to the relationship between the NLCB and GTECH as one of the best in the industry. But Prime Minister Patrick Manning has stated in his 2008 and 2009 budgets that the Government had mandated the NLCB to review its operations with the specific aim of eliminating games of chance. NLCB was to advise on the regulation of the gaming industry and about the expansion of its mandate to new commercial services. NLCB chairman is Louis Lee Singh.

Asked about this, Patel said he would like the Prime Minister to clarify what he meant, noting that GTECH was unaware of any change in its TT’s operations and that he has not had any discussions with Manning on the matter.

“We are continuing to do business,” he said. In his address, Patel told guests that in 1994 Trinidad and Tobago made a game-changing decision when NLCB partnered with GTECH to implement an online lottery system to regulate and formalise the cultural pastime known as “whe whe.”

This decision to bring the lottery on line gave the public a clear choice. “They could take their chances and continue to play the unregulated lotteries or they could play the authorised and regulated online games,” he said.

Luckily, the playing public appreciated the advantages of a government-operated online lottery, he said. “Players recognised that unlike the illegal games, the regulated games were operated fairly and honestly. The players began to realise that if they won, they would be paid.”

Noting that the new system was more transparent and substantially more convenient, he said players could now purchase tickets right up to the time of the drawing at local shops and retail locations. Back then, he noted more than 2,000 local jobs were created adding that sizeable investments were also made in order to build out the lottery’s technology infrastructure.

“By automating and bringing its lottery online, the NLCB took advantage of the tools and technology provided by its partnership with GTECH in order to closely regulate and grow the lottery,” he said.

For 2008, GTECH posted annual earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation or amortization (EBITDA) of $387.7 million), a 1.19 percent decline from the year-ago (US$393.7 million), despite revenue that grew 27.91 percent to US$1.36 billion.

Of GTECH’s revenues, US$200 million came from Latin America, said Patel in the interview.

“We’ve been in Trinidad and Tobago for the last 15 years and see no reason to scale back our operations,” he said and pointed out that GTECH was pleased with the gaming business being run by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

“For a dollar, you have hope and a dream,” he said, noting that Trinidad and Tobago was still a viable market for gaming.

Asked how viable, he said this country is a very important market for GTECH.

GTECH is spreading its wings across Latin America and the Caribbean. In the Dominican Republic, lottery operator, Lotto Real successfully completed its first-ever online lottery ticket transaction in June, powered by GTECH under a 20-year contract.

In Jamaica, GTECH has also partnered with Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) giving players the convenience of playing their favorite lottery game over the phone with a new telebetting feature.

It means that buying a lottery ticket in Jamaica is now as easy as making a phone call, said President and CEO of SVL, Brian George GTECH Corporation has been the technology provider to SVL since its inception in 2001.

Wherever GTECH has operations, Patel said charitable work was a big part of its corporate social responsibility.

“We try to give back to the community,” he said. “We give to good causes.”

GTECH will soon be implementing an automated ticketing system for the Public Transport Services Corporation (PTSC), whereby a new ticketing system will make it possible for commuters using public transport to buy tickets at any NLCB online agent in the country and have those tickets validated on PTSC buses. This new ticketing system will be provided free of charge and operated at no expense to the PTSC or the NLCB, Patel told guests.

GTECH’s technology has also allowed for the introduction of handheld lottery terminals to help mobile vendors who previously sold passive tickets.

“It’s a technology solution enabling those vendors to move forward as the lottery has moved forward,” Patel said.

Brian Wood, managing director, GTECH, Trinidad and Tobago, noted though that gaming was just a part of the company’s portfolio and that GTECH was providing technology for phone top- ups and bill payments for Digicel, TSTT, Flow, Green dot, WASA and soon direct TV.

Gaming, he said, is just part of the business.

He said the company had no plans for any new games but pointed out that less money was being spent on gaming. “ It’s a little tougher than before, we have our challenges,” he said.

On electronic transactions, Wood said while the level of transactions had not dropped, people were spending less. “It’s a stable business, it provides a cash flow,” he said of GTECH’s ancillary services.

GTECH, he said will soon launch a new version of TSTT’s top-up where the top up will go directly via SMS. But the company was also looking to work with Government on setting up an amber alert system where criminal activities can be picked up and viewed on monitors at points of sale.

Given the present economic environment, Wood said the challenge would be getting people to spend on games - and on commercial services. On the latter, he said GTECH’s aim was to drive that part of the business.

Thanks to NLCB’s vision, Patel in his address said Trinidad and Tobago has realised the advantages of a lottery system that delivers the highest levels of integrity and entertainment. He said in 2003, GTECH built upon its existing network of lottery agents and introduced VIA commercial services and made it possible for people in communities throughout the country to access services like mobile phone top-ups and bill payment services.

Like Wood, he said GTECH was committed to this segment of its commercial business and continues to have discussions with potential new service providers.

GTECH together with the NLCB has now seen its lottery network grow from 300 independently-owned retail agents in 1994 to 800 agents today.

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