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GTECH Signs Contract with Supreme Gaming LLC to Bring an Online
Lottery to Guatemala
WEST GREENWICH, Rhode Island, USA
(October 3, 2006) -- GTECH Corporation, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Lottomatica
S.p.A., announced that it has entered into an agreement with
Supreme Gaming LLC (SGL) to become the provider of an online
lottery system, products, and ongoing services in Guatemala for a period of 15
years from the date that sales commence in Guatemala, which is expected in
February 2007.
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SGL has contracted with Fundacion
Pediatrica Guatemalteca (FPG), a non-profit institution that operates the
Children's Lottery in Guatemala and which has granted SGL exclusive rights to
operate an online lottery in Guatemala on behalf of the Children's Lottery for
a 15-year term.
"We are excited about working
with SGL to bring an online lottery to Guatemala," said W. Bruce Turner,
GTECH President & CEO and Lottomatica S.p.A. CEO. "This agreement is a
perfect example of GTECH's industry-leading technology and capability being
brought to bear in new and emerging markets. It also illustrates the continued
expansion in our core lottery business, a key element in our strategic growth
plans."
Under the terms of the integrated
services contract with SGL, GTECH will provide the Company's Enterprise
Series™ (ES) solution, featuring Internet Protocol (IP) and
standards-based open architecture. GTECH will also provide up to 500 lottery
terminals and 350 handheld terminals.
GTECH will operate the system from
its primary data center in Austin, Texas, and will provide ongoing hardware and
software maintenance and support; assist SGL in retailer selection and
training; manage the communications network; and provide field services and
marketing services.
GTECH expects to receive
approximately $119 million in revenue over the life of the contract. Proceeds
from the lottery will benefit FPG, which provides comprehensive services for
the health and welfare of Guatemalan children.
About
GTECH
GTECH is a leading gaming technology and services company,
providing innovative technology, creative content, and superior service
delivery. Lottomatica Italy is one of the world's largest commercial lottery
operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry. GTECH and
Lottomatica Italy together create a fully integrated lottery operator and
gaming technology solutions provider -- a combined company with worldwide
scale, considerable financial strength, and industry-leading customer
solutions. GTECH and Lottomatica Italy operate under "Lottomatica," which is
majority owned by the De Agostini Group, a century-old publishing, media, and
financial services company. Lottomatica is publicly traded on the Italian Stock
Exchange (LTO) and in FY 2005 had more than 1.6 billion euros in revenues and
6,300 employees in over 50 countries.
SOURCE: GTECH
Corporation.
CONTACT: Robert K. Vincent, Public Affairs, GTECH Corporation,
Phone: 401-392-7452.
INTRALOT Changes Its Corporate Identity And Follows Its Growth
Course
ATHENS, Greece (October 5, 2006) --
On Thursday October 5th 2006 in Athens, Greece,
INTRALOT presented its new corporate
identity. The event was attended mainly by representatives of the press and
financial institutions.
After 14 years of worldwide
leadership in the Lottery industry, INTRALOT changes its corporate logo to more
accurately reflect the Company’s evolution and its ongoing strategic
goals.
The new INTRALOT logo symbolizes the
company’s “21st century personality” as well as its broad
international success. It is a straightforward depiction that expresses not
only the company it represents but also INTRALOT’s core corporate
values.
The logo’s colors embody
dynamism and responsibility. The grey color corresponds to the company’s
global character and its serious nature while the warm
“orange” expresses the passionate human resources who put all
their efforts toward the realization of the Company’s high objectives.
Orange is also an “optimistic” color and fits INTRALOT’s
vision and perspective.
The logo’s modern italic font,
exclusively designed for INTRALOT, is compact, plain but not stagnant. The word
“INTRALOT” is written in English as the company is an internationally
leading player. Its origin and identity are revealed but with the absence of
stress over the “I” letter, which reminds us of the Greek letter
“yiota - ι”. The underline beneath the company’s
name emphasizes the humanistic essence of INTRALOT, and appears as if it has
been undersigned by a human hand. The curve that is formed at the end of the
line represents INTRALOT’S growth and upward movement in the worldwide
marketplace.
During his presentation,
INTRALOT’s CEO, Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos referred to the
company’s new business goals and saying that “INTRALOT will
continue its growth course shaping the world of EnterGaming, developing new
games of interactive entertainment, platforms for New Media (i.e. Internet,
iTV, mobile phones etc) and inaugurating “physical” Retail Networks
in the near future.” Mr. Antonopoulos connected the significance of
the new, modern logo to the accomplishment of the above-mentioned goals.
He went on to say, “We had in mind to create an effective logo which
would link the company with its past and reflect its vision of the future and I
believe we accomplished it! Our new logo, with its simplicity and vigour,
depicts our company’s dynamics and strengths. Without any superficial
ornaments, our logo reflects our company’s personality, its reliability,
solidity and integrity. The new logo, with its sense of motion and speed,
mirrors INTRALOT’s course of growth and expansion. The previous logo, with
the globe, fulfilled its mission and helped us to achieve our goals: Now, as a
worldwide leader in the Lottery industry, we strongly believe that our new logo
will continue to strengthen our brand as we achieve more and more demanding
goals in the near future.”
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.
Schafer Systems Inc. Announces Personnel
Changes
ADAIR, Iowa, USA (October 3, 2006)
– Schafer Systems Inc. announces that
John Krogman will be leaving his current position as Sales Director at Schafer
Systems effective November 1, 2006. John will be joining The Plastic
Professionals (a sister company to Schafer Systems) as a Sales Director for
that entity. John has been with Schafer Systems for the past 3 years as
Sales Director and has been a key contact and resource for Schafer customers
during that time.
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The Plastic Professionals, a growing
subsidiary of the Owner Revolution family, will welcome John’s extensive
experience. According to Jeff Mauk, Director of the Plastic
Professionals, “We are delighted to have John come on board with
us. He will be instrumental in the growth of the Plastic Professionals
and will make an immediate impact with this organization.”
The Plastic Professionals is a
Custom Rotational Molding and Mold Building operation located in Atlantic,
Iowa.
John will be succeeded at Schafer
Systems by Scott Pederson. Scott has experience in both Sales and Marketing and
has been an employee at Owner Revolution (parent company) for the past 6 years.
Teresa Immel, Sales Director for Schafer Systems said, “This will be a
very smooth transition for Scott since he is very familiar with Schafer
Systems, our products and our marketing strategy. His Graphic Design,
Marketing and Sales experience will prove to be very beneficial to
us.”
About Schafer Systems
Inc. (www.ssi-ia.com)
Schafer Systems Inc. is the world
leader in point of purchase and promotional products for the lottery industry.
SSI dispensers, Play Centers and related products are the industry standard
with customers including all 40 U.S. lotteries, 46 countries and 10
territories. SSI is located in Adair, Iowa.
CONTACT: Teresa Immel, Sales
Director Schafer Systems Inc., Phone: 641.742.3266, Fax: 641.742.3624, Email:
teresa.immel@ownrev.com
INTRALOT, Pioneer in The Use of New
Technologies
ATHENS, Greece (October 3, 2006) --
During a presentation of new Microsoft products in Munich on September 27th and
28th, attended by approximately 30 journalists from Central and Eastern Europe,
INTRALOT presented its study concerning
the potential implementation of the corporate extranet based on the SharePoint
2007 platform. During a round table discussion that followed, Mr. Dimitris
Tagalis, Director of the company’s Global Support Services Department
stressed the important part that organizational infrastructure projects should
play in rapidly developing international companies.
The paper dealt with potential
applications of the new platform as it may be applied to meet INTRALOT’s
corporate needs as well as that of its international subsidiaries, customers
and business partners. SharePoint 2007 provides INTRALOT with an
“international common point of reference” which facilitates
communication between INTRALOT management involved in project monitoring, and
provides solutions for remote education and support, information and solution
exchange.
The event previewed new Microsoft
products that will be released at the end of the year. Microsoft
considered the INTRALOT study on SharePoint 2007 as one of the more
accomplished ones presented and has asked INTRALOT to participate in the
announcement of SharePoint 2007 through a presentation of its
“Streamlined Interactivity” presentation.
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.
SOURCE: INTRALOT.
For more
information please CONTACT: Ms Evi Ioannidou, Communications Director, Phone:
+30-210-6156000 – Fax: +30-210 6106800, email:
ioannidou@intralot.com.
Michigan Players Love OGT’s Patented Lucky Numbers
Game
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, USA (October 2,
2006) -- The Michigan Lottery’s
Lucky Numbers game, using Oberthur Gaming
Technologies’ Lucky Dice® patented play action, has flown off the
shelves, selling out in just 7 weeks! The Lucky Numbers game offers consumers
tremendous play value, with the play action and winning criteria not only
varying from ticket to ticket, but from game to game within each ticket.
“Lucky Numbers has
indexed at 118 and is one of our best $2 games this year,” said Glenn
Strong, Michigan’s Instant Game Product Manager. “Players are
contacting us to request that we bring more games just like this one to the
streets.”
Lucky Numbers is just one variation
of OGT’s Lucky Dice® patent, which has been launched by six (6)
Lotteries in the United States. Lotteries can use this same patented play
action using cards, dice or other symbols. This allows Lotteries to freshen up
the game and give players the same beloved play action with a new face.
The Lucky Dice® play action
(U.S. Patent No. 7,004,506) and all games incorporating the same patent, such
as Lucky Card Cash and Lucky Numbers, are part of OGT’s proprietary
products portfolio.
About Oberthur Gaming
Technologies (www.oberthurgt.com)
With more than 35 years of
lottery-specific expertise and over a century's experience in the security
printing industry, Oberthur Gaming Technologies is the world’s leader in
the printing of innovative instant lottery tickets. Comprehensive services
include strategic game planning and innovative conceptual design with
OGT’s Dream Team®, mobile gaming, Cyber Games™ as well as
state-of-the-art Global Operations and Lottery Distribution System (GOLDS). OGT
currently supplies a full range of high quality products and services to 100
clients in some 50 countries.
The company has production units or offices
in Montreal, Canada; San Antonio, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania in the U.S.; Paris, France; and Sydney, Australia.
SOURCE: Lyse Trudel, Communications
Officer, Oberthur Gaming Technologies, (+1-514) 254-3600, ext. 101, Email:
lyse.trudel@mtl.oberthurgt.com.
For
information:Vicki Smith, Sales Support Specialist, Liz Johnson, New Business
Coordinator, Oberthur Gaming Technologies, (+1-210) 509-9999 ext. 236, (+1-210)
509-9999 ext. 119.
Illinois Lottery Shows Chicago Cubs Fans What it Looks Like to be
‘Set For Life’
CHICAGO, Illinois, USA (October 2,
2006) -- Chicago Cubs fans experienced a win they never expected when Christy
Davis won $100,000 a year for the rest of her life in the
Illinois Lottery’s “Set for
Life” grand finale event just before the first pitch.
Since the end of May, Lottery
players across the state mailed in $30 worth of non-winning, instant tickets to
qualify for the promotion. Each week, the Lottery drew a new finalist for a
total of 16 who qualified to participate in the grand finale event at Wrigley
field. During the live finale, each would learn which prize they’d won
from a prize pool that included the cash equivalent of a new-leased car, the
cash equivalent of a fabulous vacation for a lifetime or the $100,000 a year
grand prize.
Davis waited anxiously for more than
two months since she first learned she was a “Set for Life”
finalist. While the 33-year-old winner says she’s not going to quit her
job as a 911 operator for the city of Aurora, she did say, “No more
overtime.”
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my
God. I don’t believe it,” said Davis the moment she found out she won
$100,000 every year for the rest of her life.
Accompanied by “Set for
Life” agents, the 16 finalists gathered on the field immediately
preceding the game - a treat in itself for most finalists, many of whom were
long-time Chicago Cubs fans. Enormous baseball cards with their week number
waited for them on the warning track and each finalist lined up in front of
their card. At a cue given by Illinois Lottery Director of Marketing Sarah
Cummins, the finalists peeled off the covering of the ticket and 10 players won
cash for a vacation every year for life. The remaining six finalists saw a pot
of gold on their tickets, meaning that they remained in the running for the
grand prize.
At this point, both Cubs fans and
the remaining “Set for Life” finalists were waiting anxiously
because not only was someone going to walk away with $100,000 every year for
the rest of their lives, but 1,000 Cubs fans were on the verge of having the
opportunity to change their lives in an instant. This was because as Cubs fans
entered the game, 16,000 received a baseball card that corresponded to one of
the “Set for Life” finalists. Each Cubs fan who held a
baseball card that corresponded to the grand prize winner was going to win a
chance to become a millionaire themselves with a free “$250 Million -
Millionaires Club” instant ticket, the new Lottery game with 30 top
prizes of $1 million.
The “Set for Life”
agents had another twist up their sleeves. Each agent carried an attache case
that the players had randomly picked that morning. However, in “Deal or
no Deal” fashion players had the opportunity to keep their previously
picked case or take the new one that waited for them on the field. Each of the
six finalists knew that only one case held the key to the grand prize. After
being signaled from Cummins, the agents opened the attache cases for each of
the six finalists and the winner was finally revealed.
Davis says she already has a plan
for her first $100,000, “First, I’m going to hire a financial
advisor so I can invest and save my winnings; and then I’m coordinating a
Hawaiian vacation for my family.”
“The ‘Set for
Life’ finale was breathtaking,” said Illinois Lottery
Superintendent Carolyn Adams.
“It was over in minutes, but I don’t think a single person in the
stadium let out their breath the entire time.”
“Set for Life” was
the Lottery’s largest ever second-chance promotion, with $200 million in
total available prizes. Hopeful players sent in more than $580 thousand entries
over the course of the promotion.
About the Illinois
Lottery
Founded in 1974, the Illinois
Lottery is a state agency with annual sales of $1.99 billion. Since its
inception, the Lottery has contributed more than $13.5 billion to the state
Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools. Players must be at least 18
years old. For more information on the Illinois Lottery please visit our Web
site at http://www.illinoislottery.com.
SOURCE: Illinois
Lottery.
CONTACT: Mia Sissac, (312) 255-3073 (office), (312) 636-6303 (cell)
or Brigitte Cross, (312) 255-3045 (office), (773) 339-1176 (cell).
Lottery Committee Appointments Named
NEW ZEALAND (October 2, 2006) --
Minister of Internal Affairs Rick Barker today announced 32 appointments to
Lottery distribution committees.
"Since
New Zealand Lotteries began in 1987 over $2
billion has been transferred to the Lottery Grants Board for distribution to
our communities,” said Rick Barker.
"The Lottery Grants Board
allocates the funding it recieves to eleven Lottery regional community
distribution committees and a national distribution committee.
"The Lottery national
distribution committee considers applications that have a national focus, or
where applicants are national organisations. Lottery regional community
distribution committees consider applications that have a more local
focus.
"Those who put themselves forward
to these committees deserve our recognition and respect. While there is more
money available to be distributed than ever before, hard decisions still need
to be made," said Rick Barker.
All appointments are for a term of
three years, from 29 September 2006, except Louise Tankersley and Andrea
Needham. Ms Tankersley has been appointed for a term of three years, from 18
October 2006. Ms Needham has been appointed from 29 September 2006 and her term
will expire on 30 June 2007. Ms Needham has been appointed for the remainder of
the term of a resigned member and may be reappointed.
SOURCE: Press Release New Zealand
Government, Hon Rick Barker Minister of Internal Affairs.
SC Lottery Receives Award of Excellence
Award Is Highest Form of
Recognition For Governmental Accounting And Financial Reporting
COLUMBIA, South Carolina, USA
(October 3, 2006) -- The South Carolina
Education Lottery (SCEL) is the recipient of the highest award in
governmental accounting and financial arenas – The Certificate of
Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. The award is given by the
Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area
of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment
represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.
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“This program is to
encourage government agencies to go beyond the minimum requirements,”
said Jake Lorentz, GFOA’s Assistant Director of Technical Service Center.
“The standards are always changing. The commitment from the Lottery to
do the best it can, regardless of the financial health of the organization, is
to be commended.”
SCEL’s Controller, Uvette
Pope-Rogers, CPA, received an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement for
serving as the agency’s primary contact for preparing the award-winning
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
“This award is based on a
collaborative effort of the entire agency,” said Rogers. “It
was a monumental task that took a great amount of commitment from everyone.
I’m excited to know the Lottery is being recognized nationally.”
CAFR is judged by an impartial panel
to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a
constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly
communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and groups to read
the CAFR.
To view the Lottery’s
award-winning 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, please visit
SCEL’s website at www.sceducationlottery.com and
click on Lottery.
For more information about GFOA,
please contact Stephen Gauthier at (312) 977-9700.
SOURCE: The South Carolina Education
Lottery.
On-Line Gaming Contract Extensions To Provide Kentucky Lottery
with Substantial Savings
Between $7.6 Million and $9.4 Million
More Could Go To Fund Popular Scholarship and Grant Programs
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, USA (October
2, 2006) -- The Kentucky Lottery Corporation
(KLC) board of directors on Friday approved a three year contract extension
with GTECH Corporation, the KLC’s
provider of on-line gaming systems. The retailer telecommunications network
contract with BellSouth was also extended for an additional three years to
coincide with the on-line contract.
Both contracts will provide the KLC
with cost saving through reduced rates for services already in place. Payments
to GTECH will be reduced from 2.75% to 1.59% of gross on-line sales.
The GTECH rates will go into effect
immediately, so the last 21 months of the existing contract and the three years
of the extension will be under the new rate structure. This means there will be
a savings for the KLC between $7.6 million and $9.4 million over the next five
years, depending on actual sales. From this amount, a savings of $6.6 million
will be realized over the next 21 months. The Corporation will also be able to
avoid substantial conversion costs incurred when moving to a new system.
The contract calls for all retailer terminals to be refurbished by July
2007.
“Our bottom line is
the bottom line, and this is a development which will help a lot of kids in
Kentucky,” said KLC Board Chairman George Demaree. “These
substantial savings can be passed along directly to the college scholarship and
grant programs funded by KLC proceeds, so even more of our state’s young
people can realize the dream of a college education.”
The new BellSouth contract will also
go into effect immediately, saving the KLC approximately $166,000 over the life
of the deal. By keeping the current telecommunications system, the KLC will
also save approximately $1.2 million by deferring the cost of converting to a
new communications system until 2011.
The contracts as amended will now be
in place through June 27, 2011. The GTECH contract was initially awarded on
June 28, 1998, while the BellSouth contract was awarded in January 2003. Both
vendors have supplied the KLC’s on-line game system since the start of
Lottery sales in Kentucky back in 1989. The KLC expects to issue a request for
proposal for a new on-line gaming system in 2009 for implementation in June
2011.
The board also heard a sales update
for the first two months of the fiscal year. There were $115.3 million in
ticket sales during July and August, which is $2.6 million (2.3%) more than in
the prior fiscal year but $4.8 million (4%) below budgeted projections. The
KLC’s Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration Howard Kline
said a large Powerball jackpot run in September should help the bottom line.
“The discretionary income of our players has been obviously affected by
high gas prices during the first part of the fiscal year,” said Kline.
“With an overwhelming majority of our tickets being sold at gas
stations, it just makes sense that sales would be soft when gas was $3 a
gallon.”
In other actions, the board
approved:
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- A contract with
Smartplay
International/Garron Lottery Products for online drawing equipment
repair services, and a rental contract with Smartplay for a random
number generator;
- A contract with Neal Turner
Realty for office and warehouse space in the Bowling Green region;
- Game rules and regulations for
eight scratch-off tickets and eight pulltab games; and
- Approved a 4% increase in KLC
President and CEO Arch Gleason’s
salary effective September 4th, bringing his annual salary to $211,700.
The next meeting of the KLC Board of
Directors will be Monday, November 20th. The meeting will begin at 12:00 PM ET,
and will be held at KLC headquarters at 1011 West Main Street, Louisville.
Committee meetings will begin at 11:00 AM ET.
SOURCE: The Kentucky Lottery (www.kylottery.com).
For More
Information
CONTACT: Chip Polston, Jennifer Cunningham or Sara Westerman
(502) 560-1675.
Rhode Island Lottery Announce 2006 Financial Year
Highlights
RHODE ISLAND, USA (October 3, 2006)
- The 2006 fiscal year has come to an end, and the financial evaluation has
been completed. The Rhode Island
Lottery is pleased to report another successful year, with sales totaling
$1,731,315,483. This is a 5.78% increase from last fiscal year’s
sales. After all prize payouts, retailer commissions, and daily
operational costs were settled, the Rhode Island Lottery turned over a record
$323,899,491 to the State’s General Fund for the 2006 fiscal year.
There are several factors that
contributed to this year’s growth. Improved marketing and increased
advertising corresponded with an 11.14% ($8.4 million) increase in instant
ticket sales from the 2005 fiscal year.
Wild Money, an
‘instate’ progressive jackpot game, increased sales by 44.7%
($1.67 million). This growth is partly attributed to higher than average
jackpot runs and advertising exposure.
In August of 2005, the
PowerBall® structure was changed to accommodate demands for faster growing
and higher jackpot runs. This is a large factor in the 36.28% ($15.23
million) increase in 2006 PowerBall® sales.
Gross video lottery sales increased
$75.44 million with a resulting increase in net terminal income (sales less
prize awards) of $17.32 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006 as
compared to the previous fiscal year.
Due to the improved sales of the
products highlighted above, the lottery increased its payment this year to the
State’s General Fund by $16.35 million.
The Rhode Island Lottery is proud to
have once again increased its contribution, and in doing so improving the
quality of life for all state residents.
SOURCE: Rhode Island Lottery.
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