Jumbo Interactive Limited (ASX:JIN) Legal Counsel and Head of Investor Relations, Nikki Searby discusses the company’s FY18 full year results and outlook.Rachael Jones: Hello. I'm Rachael Jones for the Finance New Network. Joining me today from Jumbo Interactive
(ASX:JIN) is Legal Counsel and Head of Investor Relations Nikki Searby. Nikki, welcome to FNN.
Nikki Searby: Thank you for having me.
Rachael Jones: Now, Jumbo Interactive sells lottery tickets online and also licenses its software to other lottery providers. How is business going?
Nikki Searby: Business is going really well. The 2018 financial year was a great year for us. We saw a 55 per cent increase in revenue. 2019 has started off with a bang. We've had a great run of jackpots including, the AUD$100 million Powerball. All that activity has caused us to release a profit guidance as early as August, 2018.
Rachael Jones: Now, before we talk about your financial year 2018 results, can you tell us about the lottery field in Australia and its competition?
Nikki Searby: The lottery market in Australia is very healthy. The online lottery market is currently sitting at about 18 per cent, up from 16 per cent in the previous year. We're tracking to hit 22 per cent online sales by the year 2020. In Australia the main operator is Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH), so they're the main operator and license holder. They're a shareholder in Jumbo, so we're very happy to have them as a partner.
Rachael Jones: Excellent. Now let's talk about your financials and strategy. What were the highlights from the financial year 2018?
Nikki Searby: As I mentioned, 2018 was a great year for us. We had a Total Transaction Value (TTV) increase, 26 per cent up from the previous year. Revenue was up 23 per cent. Our net profit after tax was also up 55 per cent. We're excited that we had a fully frank declared dividend totaling 26.5 cents.
Rachael Jones: Great. Can you tell us about your strategy and your progress?
Nikki Searby: Certainly. We're looking to continue our ticket sales growth. Thanks to our new software platform. It's taken about three years in development. Now that we've been able to launch that we've seen some great sales growth, and we're looking to continue that. And off the back of that, we're looking to launch a second tranche of the business, which is what we call Powered By Jumbo. That's the software as a service licensing side of the business we lovingly call PBJ.
Rachael Jones: Great. Nikki, can you provide a comment on the share price?
Nikki Searby: As you might be aware, the share price has grown in the past year. It's exciting for us. Very pleasing to see that it's reached as high as AUD$8.00 after years of hard work.
Rachael Jones: Nikki, last year we spoke with Mike Veverka about the agreement with Tatts Group
(ASX:TTS). How is that performing?
Nikki Searby: That's going really well. The long term contracts are great for us. It has aligned up with Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) as a partner and we're very happy about that. Yeah, it's been going really well.
Rachael Jones: Last question now, Nikki. What's the outlook for the financial year 2019?
Nikki Searby: The 2019 financial year is looking to be our biggest year on record. As mentioned, we've had a great run with the jackpots, which has driven some great growth for us. Our TTV for the financial year's forecast is to reach up to AUD$230 million. That's amazing growth for us. We're looking to continue that growth with the new software platform as well as developing the second tranche of the business with the software licensing. So 2019 is looking like a great year for Jumbo.
Rachael Jones: Nikki Searby, thanks for the update.
Nikki Searby: Thank you.
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