Novamedia presents yearly results

Amsterdam, 6 May 2009

Charity lotteries see a 10 percent increase in revenues

The joint revenues of the three national charity lotteries in the Netherlands – the National Postcode Lottery, the BankGiro Lottery and the Sponsor Bingo Lottery – increased by 10 percent to a total of 699 million euros in 2008. The money donated to 158 charities increased by the same percentage to 350 million euros.

The Sponsor Bingo Lottery in particular had an extremely good year. The proceeds generated by the sale of lottery tickets increased by 17 percent from 80 to 94 million euros. The income generated by the BankGiro Lottery increased from 106 to 116 million euros (an increase of 9 percent). And the money raised by the National Postcode Lottery increased by 9 percent from 450 to 489 million euros.

Postcode Lottery jackpot of 27.9 million is the largest ever paid out in the Netherlands
The 257 million euros that the three charity lotteries paid out in (cash) prizes last year represented more than 36 percent of the total revenues - an increase of 19 percent in relation to the previous year, when the lotteries paid out 216 million euros in (cash) prizes. The Postcode Lottery jackpot of 27.9 million euros over New Year was the largest prize ever paid out in the Netherlands. The jackpot was shared between the lottery members in the winning postcode area and neighbourhood. Eight families became millionaires overnight.

Money donated by charities increases to 350 million
158 charities benefited most from the increase in the revenues generated by the three lotteries. Last year the Postcode Lottery donated 245 million euros to 68 different organisations that work to support and protect people and nature. 6.9 million euros went to Humanitas, an organisation that extends a helping hand to people in need, 2 million euros went to the Dutch Society for the Protection of Birds and 18 million euros went to Doctors Without Borders. The BankGiro Lottery, which raises money for organisations that promote culture, donated 58 million euros to organisations such as the Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, the Zeeland Museum and the Aviodrome national aviation theme park. The Sponsor Bingo Lottery donated 47 million euros to organisations that promote health and wellbeing, which included the AIDS Funds and the Dutch Kidney Foundation.


Increase in revenues generated by rise in lottery ticket prices
The increase in the revenues generated by the three lotteries, which are owned and managed by the Holding Nationale Goede Doelen Loterijen holding company, was largely accounted for by the increase in the price of the lottery tickets. From January 2008 the price of a Postcode Lottery ticket with double jackpot points increased from 8.50 to 9.00 euros. In December 2008 the price of the ticket increased from 9.00 to 9.75 euros. In 2007 BankGiro Lottery tickets cost 6.75 euros. From January 2008 the tickets cost 7.25 euros. And in January 2008 the price of a Sponsor Bingo Lottery ticket increased from 6.80 to 7.80 euros. At the end of December 2008 the same number of people were still playing the Postcode Lottery – the largest of the three charity lotteries – which still had almost 2.5 million members. The other two lotteries saw a slight drop in their membership.


Sweden, Scotland and England
2008 was a very successful year for the Swedish Postcode Lottery (Svenska PostkodLotteriet) the Swedish sister organisation of the Dutch National Postcode Lottery. Its revenues increased by 66 percent from 100 to 166 million euros. By the end of the year more than 786,000 households were playing the lottery with more than one million lottery tickets. One year earlier 569,000 households were playing the lottery with 737,000 lottery tickets. There are a total of 3.9 million households in Sweden.

The money raised by the lottery is donated to charities in Sweden and international charities. Some of these charities are the same as those supported by the Postcode Lottery in the Netherlands: Greenpeace, WWF, Save the Children, and Peace Parks.

The money raised by the People’s Postcode Lottery in the North East of England fell from 4 to 2.6 million euros. At the end of December 14,640 households were playing the lottery with 17,611 lottery tickets.

The People’s Postcode Lottery launched in Scotland in January 2008 and generated revenues of more than 7 million euros during its first year. More than 74,000 households played the lottery with a total of 98,000 lottery tickets.

At the moment the money raised by the People’s Postcode Lottery in Scotland is being donated to charities in Scotland. Back...