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SAZKA, a.s. Named One of the Czech Republic’s Most Successful
Companies
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PRAGUE, Czech Republic (August 4,
2006) -- Recognised Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES reported that
joint-stock company SAZKA was third among
the most successful companies active in the Czech Republic. Only gas and oil
companies were rated higher while telecommunications, IT, metallurgical,
chemical, tobacco or food companies lagged behind the Czech biggest lottery
company in the list of the 500 largest domestic businesses.
The list of the most successful
firms for 2005 was created on the basis of revenue per employee, net profit per
employee and proportion of net profit to overall revenues. The evaluation is
based on audited financial indicators, e.g. annual reports, data from the
Commercial Register and other materials.
SAZKA, which was established in
1956, is a betting and lottery joint-stock company. It is the largest
nongovernmental provider of funds to good causes in the Czech Republic, and its
shareholders are public associations active in sports and physical culture.
SOURCE: SAZKA, a.s. CONTACT: PhDr.
Zdeněk Zikmund, SAZKA, a.s. Press Spokesperson, Tel.: 266 12 92 22, Fax:
266 12 26 67, E-mail: zikmund@sazka.cz
INTRALOT Ranks High Among Top European Stocks
ATHENS, Greece (August 4, 2006) --
Morgan Stanley’s Strategy team included INTRALOT in its top-50 picks amongst
European stocks in a report released earlier this week. Companies were screened
on EV/EBITDA multiples and ROCE (return on capital employed) ratios, as a
financial theory says that these two criteria are guidelines for future stock
out-performance. It is noteworthy to mention that INTRALOT is the only company
operating in the gaming sector to be included on this list.
About INTRALOT (www.intralot.com)
INTRALOT, a public company listed on
the ASE, is a leading supplier of integrated gaming and transaction processing
systems, innovative game content and value added services to state-licensed
gaming organizations worldwide. Its broad portfolio of products & services,
its know-how of Lottery, Betting & Video Lottery operations, its experience
in sports games and its leading-edge technology give INTRALOT a competitive
advantage, which contributes directly to customers’ efficiency,
profitability and growth. INTRALOT’s footprint straddles five continents
with 37 subsidiaries, 8 business offices, 3,000 people and revenues of €
523 million for 2005 and €700(Ε) for 2006.
For more information please CONTACT:
Ms Evi Ioannidou, Communications Director, Phone: +30-210-6156000 – Fax:
+30-210 6106800, email: ioannidou@intralot.com.
Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich Instant Games Go On Sale Aug. 4; Offer
Chance to be on New Lottery TV Show
CLEVELAND, Ohio, USA (August 3,
2006) -- There’s more ways to play and more ways to win with the
introduction of the Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich instant games Friday,
Aug. 4, at Ohio Lottery retailers statewide. The $1 Make Me Famous,
Make Me Rich and $2 Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich Extended Play games
offer players the chance to win cash prizes and vie to be one of 30 contestants
per show on the Ohio Lottery’s
upcoming Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich TV show. Players of the $2
game even have a chance to qualify for a second-chance drawing and possible
audition as show co-host.
The Make Me Famous, Make Me
Rich TV show debuts Saturday, Oct. 7.
The $1 Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich
instant game
- Top instant-win prize is
$500.
- Prize payout is 65 percent.
- Odds of winning any prize are 1
in 4.99.
- Odds of winning an entry ticket
for the Make Me Famous contestant drawing are 1 in 100.
The $2 Make Me Famous, Make Me
Rich Extended Play instant game
- Top instant-win prize is
$10,000.
- Prize payout is 70 percent.
- Odds of winning any prize are 1
in 4:49.
- Odds of winning an entry ticket
for the Make Me Famous are 1 in 50.
Make Me Famous, Make Me Rich
instant games go on sale Aug. 4
Offer chance to be on new Lottery TV
Show
The $2 game also provides a chance
for players who reveal a Make Me Famous star symbol to enter the Make Me Famous
drawing. Those selected win a $100 cash prize. Ohio resident
winners of this second-chance drawing may also send in an audition tape for a
chance to be the show co-host.
The Ohio Lottery will contact all
contestants by mail. For more information please visit the Ohio Lottery
Web site at www.ohiolottery.com.
SOURCE: Ohio Lottery.
CONTACT: Mardele Cohen, Deputy Director, Communications, (216)
787-3309.
Eleven Lotteries Now Planning for MDI’s “Deal or No
Deal”
ALPHARETTA, Georgia, USA (August 4,
2006) -- Nearly one-fourth of all North American lotteries are now planning for
a “Deal or No Deal” instant ticket to coincide with the second
season of the TV smash hit on NBC.
“Deal or No Deal”
is offered to lotteries exclusively through MDI
Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ:
SGMS). MDI announced its agreement with the show’s production company,
Endemol International, on June 23.
“Some lotteries are planning
on a ‘Deal or No Deal’ fall launch to go along with the show’s
second season kick-off and others are waiting for the show to be in full swing
after the holidays,” said Steve Saferin, MDI president. “The
fact is that this is the hottest show around and predictions are that next
season will be even bigger. Now is the time for lotteries to take advantage of
this opportunity and plan for this game.”
The TV smash “Deal or No
Deal” was last season’s surprise hit, consistently ranking #1 for
its time period in adults 18-49 and total viewers. To date, the show has been
produced in over 40 countries. The top prize won in the first season was
$464,000. However, at a recent press conference, the show’s host Howie
Mandel hinted that a much higher amount has already been won in episodes
he’s taped that have yet to air.
About Scientific
Games
Scientific Games Corporation (www.scientificgames.com) is the
leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to
lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to
pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in
Connecticut and the Netherlands, and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone
cards to telephone companies. MDI Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Scientific Games Corporation, is the worldwide leader in licensed lottery games
and promotions.
SOURCE: MDI
Entertainment.
CONTACT: Jeff Schweig, Phone: 678-297-5212.
Arizona Receives Record-Breaking $141 Million; Highest Return in
Lottery’s 25-Year History
PHOENIX, Arizona, USA (August 9,
2006) -- Governor Janet Napolitano today announced that thanks to the
Arizona Lottery’s record-breaking
sales year, the state will receive over $141 million in net profit—the
highest return in the Lottery’s 25-year history.
Arizona Lottery ticket sales for
fiscal year 2006 hit an all-time high of $468.7 million, $71 million more than
last year’s record-breaking $397.6 million.
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As a result, the state will receive
$141.1 million in net profits, a 21 percent increase over last fiscal
year’s $116 million. Additionally, Lottery retailers earned a record $31.3
million in commissions and Lottery players cashed in on almost $262 million in
prizes.
“This is good news for our
state, because so many programs benefit from the Arizona Lottery’s
revenues,” said Gov. Janet Napolitano. “The list is long: from
state parks, to programs that provide funds to put more health care workers in
rural Arizona, to Court-Appointed Special Advocates.”
Art Macias, executive director of the
Arizona Lottery, said that a strong growth in ticket sales was led by an
astonishing 48 percent increase in Powerball sales and a 13.7 percent in
Scratchers sales.
“We can’t talk about
the Lottery’s success over the past 25 years without talking about why the
Lottery was created—to generate revenues that improve the quality of life
for all our residents. Lottery dollars fund a vast array of important
programs—from arts, culture and historic preservation, to preserving
Arizona’s natural environments, to programs that keep Arizonans healthy
and others that support our schools and children,” said Macias.
“They are the reason for our existence. Through our beneficiaries, we
touch people’s lives everywhere in our state.”
Macias also noted that all
beneficiaries with statutory caps received their full allocation and that all
other beneficiaries received an increase over last year.
The record-breaking fiscal year also
caps off a successful 25 years for the Arizona Lottery, which is celebrating
its silver anniversary this year. Over the past 25 years, the Arizona
Lottery has experienced nearly $6 billion in sales and has provided nearly $379
million in commissions to retailers. Also, the past 25 years have allowed the
Arizona Lottery to contribute almost $2 billion to the state and almost $3.1
billion in prizes to winners.
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“The Lottery is committed to
remaining innovative in its use of technology and the development of new and
improved games that give our players the chance to be the state’s next big
winner,” said Macias. “We are confident that our efforts will
continue to increase sales. And as sales increase, so does funding for so many
worthwhile projects, that’s our mission”
About the Arizona
Lottery
The Arizona Lottery operates
entirely from the revenue it generates through the sale of its products; it
receives no General Fund dollars from the State. Proceeds from sales of Lottery
tickets—over $2.7 million per week—fund a wide variety of public
projects and programs including arts, wildlife, parks, transportation,
education and historic preservation in cities and towns throughout all 15
counties in Arizona.
The Arizona Lottery marks its
25th Anniversary this year. Since July 1981, the Arizona Lottery has
paid out nearly $2 billion in net profit to beneficiaries, approximately $3.1
billion in prizes to players, and almost $379 million in commissions to
retailers.
SOURCE: Arizona Lottery media
release.
Calling All Cats and Dogs!
Georgia Lottery Introduces Lucky Dog
& Fat Cat Contest
ATLANTA, Georgia, USA (august 7,
2006) -- Is your pet a Lucky Dog or a Fat Cat? If your pet ought to be in
pictures, then enter the Georgia Lottery's Lucky Dog & Fat Cat Contest.
Your dog or cat could be featured on
the new upcoming Lucky Dog and Fat Cat instant tickets from the
Georgia Lottery.
Online and mail-in entries must be
received by 5:00 p.m. EST on August 21, 2006. All photos must be an original
photograph of your dog or cat.
A total of 15 Lucky Dogs and 15 Fat
Cats will be selected as semi-finalists. Semi-finalists' photographs will be
featured on www.galottery.com in September 2006 for general public voting. Five
Lucky Dogs will be selected to appear on the upcoming $2 Lucky Dog instant game
tickets, and five Fat Cats will be selected to appear on the upcoming $2 Fat
Cat instant game tickets.
For complete details, please read
the official contest rules at www.galottery.com.
Since its first year, the Georgia
Lottery Corporation has returned over $8.4 billion to the state of Georgia for
education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational
programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's
Prekindergarten Program. More than 900,000 students have received HOPE
Scholarships, and more than 700,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide,
voluntary prekindergarten program.
For more information, please visit
the Media Center on the GLC Web site at:
www.galottery.com
SOURCE: Georgia Lottery
Corporation.
CONTACT: Media Relations Department, Voice: 404-215-5062, Fax:
404-215-898, Email: media@galottery.org
Camelot Receives Top Purchasing and Supply
Award
UNITED KINGDOM (August 3, 2006) --
Camelot Group plc was today presented with
the prestigious Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS)
Certification, recognising excellence in its purchasing policies and
procedures.
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The
National Lottery operator was awarded the
certificate after completing a three-month, 10-step process, which included
examining and in some cases enhancing procurement efficiency, cost and risk
management and eliminating wasteful processes.
The CIPS Certification is an
accreditation of best practice in purchasing and supply, which aims to
benchmark world class business practices, improve purchasing and supply team
performances, and maximize the potential of customer-supplier relationships for
the lasting benefit of both.
Camelot has around 800 suppliers,
most of which are based in the UK, and is a supplier itself to over 26,200
National Lottery retailers UK-wide. The lottery operator is one of less than 70
companies worldwide to have won this award; others accredited include British
Airways, the BBC and ntl. The certification process recognises excellence in
over 400 different areas of purchasing and supply chain management in total and
assesses organisations against CIPS practice standards.
Stephen Day, Camelot’s Head of
Supplier Development, said: “The Supplier Development team works hard
to ensure that Camelot’s supply chain and procurement processes are
managed efficiently, ethically and in partnership with the companies we do
business with. I am delighted that the Institute has formally recognised
Camelot's achievements in this area. The process of working towards achieving
this award has given us the opportunity to build an authoritative and concise
best practice model.”
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Michael Campbell, Director of
Business Development at CIPS, said: “Camelot should feel very proud of
this achievement. We were initially very impressed with the strength of their
established CSR practices within the supply chain and their flexible working
arrangements with internal customers. Even so, gaining CIPS Certification is no
easy task. It takes commitment and dedication from the entire team while
undergoing the rigorous assessment process and I am very pleased to welcome
Camelot into what is a fairly exclusive network"
For further information, please
contact Charlotte Gibson, Corporate PR Manager: 020 7632 5716, Camelot Press
Office: 020 7632 5711.
World Lottery Association Convention & Trade Show 2006
Newsletter
- Many Chairmen, Board members,
Presidents and Chief Executive Officers from lotteries around the world have
signed up.
- Over 90% of the Trade Show space
has been sold and
- An impressive range of
technologies, innovative games and software solutions.
HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS
ISSUE
“Negotiating Across
Cultures – East and West”
Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Singapore
Can lotteries with its legal monopoly license in many
jurisdictions continue to operate unaffected by forces that are making
economies more interdependent and increasingly globalized? We think not. The
organization and management of lotteries have changed even if our markets
remain domestic. Today, we are managing people with very diverse ethnic
backgrounds. Our customers are increasingly cosmopolitan with vastly different
cultures and taboos. We buy services and products from domestic and foreign
owned suppliers. Our regulators are thinking and adapting best practices from
abroad to our lotteries. Managing customer, business, government, labour union
and employee relationships have become not only extremely complex but can
create conflict situations that require many hours of negotiations.
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Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s
Ambassador-At-Large, will share with you his experience of negotiating and
resolving disputes between and among States, across diverse cultures and
regions. He was Singapore’s Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free
Trade Agreement. He served as Chairman of two WTO dispute panels. He also
served as Chairman of two major UN conferences, on the law of the sea and the
environment and development. He was also sent by the UN as a special envoy to
make peace between Russia and its three Baltic neighbours, Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania. He has been recognized for his distinguished service to Singapore
and for his many contributions to world peace, the rule of law and sustainable
development by the many awards given to him by the Governments of the United
States, France, Finland, Spain, Chile, Luxembourg and Singapore. In April 2006,
he and six others were given the Champion of the Earth Award by the United
Nations for their contributions to the protection of the environment. Professor
Tommy Koh has spent 20 years of his life in America and has been a bridge
builder between Asia, the US, Europe and the Middle East.
Click
Here for details
“Think “One
Team” – Strategies to Cultivate High Performance
Culture”
Mr Graham Winter,
Author of “High Performance Leadership” and “Think One
Team”
Author, consultant and three-time Chief Psychologist
for the world-acclaimed Australian Olympic Team, Graham Winter will challenge
you to imagine the possibilities when everyone in your organisation thinks and
acts as one big team. With insight from his new book and training programme
“Think One Team™," Graham will reveal an engagingly simple and
powerful model that is freeing organisations of ‘silo thinking’ and
empowering them to perform as one big team.
Click
Here for details
WLA Ad
Awards 2006
The WLA Awards honour the
outstanding advertisements from the lottery fraternity and provides WLA members
with the opportunity to profile themselves, and to learn, exchange information,
and experience the creativity of the global regulated lottery community.
WLA and Singapore Pools are now
pleased to invite you to submit your creative entries to the WLA Awards
Programme 2006.
There are seven categories in the
Awards Programme:
- Numbers Games
- Sports Betting
- Instant Games
- Internet Advertising
- TV Draw (new!)
- Corporate Profile Award
- Annual Report (new!)
Hurry, the closing date for
entry submission is August 15, 2006. Get details
here: http://www.wla2006.com/eng/awards_pgm.html
REGISTER
NOW: CLICK
HERE
Camelot Unveils London 2012 Funding Boost
LONDON, United Kingdom (August 8,
2006) -- Returns to Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund Show fourth consecutive
quarter of growth
Camelot today announced a further boost to
the funding of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games –
unveiling new figures which show that returns to the Olympic Lottery
Distribution Fund (OLDF) rose for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Figures released today show that in
the first quarter of this financial year (1 April to 1 July 2006) returns to
the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund from sales of designated games in support
of London 2012 were £13.4m – an increase of over 28 per cent on the
figure of £10.4 million raised the previous quarter.
Sales of designated National Lottery
games in support of London 2012 have now risen in each of the last four
quarters – bringing the total raised for London 2012 up to the end of June
2006 to more than £29.7 million.
- Quarter 2 2005/06 -- £2.7
million
- Quarter 3 2005/06 -- £3.2
million
- Quarter 4 2005/06 -- £10.4
million
- Quarter 1 2006/07 -- £13.4
million
- Total raised to 1 July 2006 --
£29.7 million
The National Lottery® will
contribute up to £1.5 billion towards funding the infrastructure of the
London 2012 Games.
Of this, £750 million will
come from a series of designated lottery games1 to fund the provision of
facilities and the supporting infrastructure of the London Games.
The first of the designated games in
support of London 2012 – the scratchcard Go For Gold – was launched
in July 2005, immediately after the 2012 Bid decision was announced, and was
then the fastest-selling £1 scratchcard launched by The National Lottery
since November 2002. National Lottery games providing funds to London
2012 in Quarter 1 this year included: Go for Gold, £100k Love, Win Gold,
Bee Lucky, £250k Yellow, Dash for Cash £100k Purple – as well
as the portfolio of Interactive Instant Win Games.
Earlier this month, Camelot also
unveiled the first National Lottery draw to raise funds for London 2012. Dream
Number offers players seven prize tiers, ranging from £2 through to
£500,000. The twice-weekly draw is broadcast before the main Lotto draw
on Saturdays on BBC1, while the Wednesday draw results are broadcast as part of
that night's midweek lottery show.
Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of
Camelot, commented: “We are delighted that sales of tickets for
designated games in support of London 2012 continue to see strong growth,
underlining the tremendous enthusiasm with which National Lottery players have
embraced the opportunity to help raise the funding required to stage the London
Games.
“This is a great start
– but rest assured we will not be resting on our laurels. We’re very
encouraged by players’ response to our new Dream Number game – which
created more than 210,000 winners in its first week alone. We look forward to
building on this achievement – offering our players the chance to win some
fantastic prizes as well as getting behind London 2012.”
The National Lottery has already
invested more than £3 billion into sport at every level in the UK since
launching in 1994 – from schools, community clubs and local facilities,
right through to elite performance athletes.
For further information, please
contact: Ben Rosier, Head of Media Relations: 07968 939 091 or Liz Warner, Head
of Special Projects: 020 7632 5746.
Camelot Press Office: 020 7632
571i.
OLG Announces Summer Edition of Quest for Gold Instant Ticket Lottery
in Support of Amateur Athletes
New Quest for Gold Offers Better Odds,
More Prizes
OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada (August 9,
2006) -- Ontario's lottery to raise funds for amateur athletes is back and
better than before. Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation’s (OLGC) summer edition of Quest for Gold Instant Ticket
Lottery has improved odds of 1 in 3 to win a prize ranging from 20 dollars to
$1million.
"Quest for Gold is a great
example of what OLG is all about," said George Sweny, Senior Vice
President, Lottery, OLG. "We are inspired by the dedication of our athletes
to make this game even better than the first."
"I'm thrilled that we are
continuing to support Ontario's athletes through Quest for Gold - a real win
for amateur sports," said David Caplan, Minister of Public Infrastructure
Renewal. "Communities across the province are winners with many projects
directly benefiting from OLG activities such as Quest for Gold."
The first Quest for Gold lottery
generated $2.9 million in net proceeds and helped more than 880 of Ontario's
amateur high-performance athletes cover living, training and post-secondary
tuition costs. Like the winter edition, all proceeds from the sales of the
second Quest for Gold will again be used to support athletes and promote ACTIVE
2010, Ontario's sport and physical fitness strategy.
"The Quest For Gold summer
edition continues our successful program that provides our high-performance
athletes increased financial support to reach their goals and achieve
excellence in sport." said Jim Watson, Minister of Health
Promotion."These athletes are an inspiration to Ontario families who are
determined to lead active healthy lives."
The summer edition of Quest for Gold
launched today the Rideau Canoe Club in Ottawa to coincide with the opening
ceremonies of the 2006 Ontario Summer Games in Ottawa. Revenues from the
lottery will continue to be distributed through three funding streams: direct
athlete assistance, enhanced coaching as well as enhanced training and
competitive opportunities.
"Quest for Gold funding enables
me to focus more on my training, to become stronger and more competitive said
Matt Raymond, canoe/kayak athlete. "With the help of this program, I am working
towards my personal goals and I hope that my achievements will inspire other
young athletes to pursue their dreams."
The new Quest for Gold features 5
top prizes of $1 million, 2 prizes of $250,000, 2 prizes of $100,000 and 2
prizes of $25,000 and smaller cash prizes starting at $20. Total number of
prizes has doubled with more than 660,000 prizes available
to be won. Overall odds of winning a prize are now 1 in 3 whereas the previous
ticket was 1 in 6. Quest for Gold Instant Tickets are available at lottery
retailers for purchase by those 18 years or older across Ontario for a limited
time.
Quest for Gold Instant
Ticket
Quest for Gold Instant Ticket is
operated and managed in the province by OLG, a government agency responsible
for province-wide lottery games, commercial and charitable casinos, and the
operation and management of slot machine facilities at horse racing tracks. It
is a provincial offence, punishable by fines, to sell OLG lottery tickets to
anyone under 18 years of age.
OLG (Ontario Lottery and
Gaming Corporation)
Since 1975 the OLG has raised $14.7
billion for worthwhile causes throughout Ontario such as the operation of
hospitals, physical fitness, sport, recreation and cultural activities,
charitable and not-for-profit organizations through the Trillium
Foundation.
For more information CONTACT:Joe
Vecsi, OLG, (416) 224 7127; Don Pister, OLG, (705) 946-6715; Adam Grachnik,
Ministry of Health Promotion, (416) 579-0583
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Betting Systems
Implementation Analyst
