Phumelela and the Competition Commission

For those following the Western Cape machinations this might be of interest

www.businesslive.co.za/southafrica/sa_co...horseracing-industry

This was also on that site....

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Phumelela Gaming expects earnings boost as rand weakens

LISTED betting and horse-racing company Phumelela Gaming and Leisure expects earnings in the second half of its financial year to be boosted by earnings in euros and pounds due to a weak rand.

"We are cautiously upbeat about the year-end numbers as we see the rand at the moment more or less at these levels for the rest of the year, so our earnings in euros and pounds will get a kicker from that," Phumelela CEO Rian du Plessis said yesterday after the company released its earnings for the six months to January 31.

"We continue to trade well internationally and we have no reason to believe the international business will come in lower than it did in the first half," he said.

The domestic business, which largely consists of the company’s horse-racing events, continues to struggle and registered a loss in the period.

The company has appealed to the gambling boards to allow it to charge higher prices for its events because the charges are regulated, unlike with other sporting codes such as rugby and cricket, where broadcast rights contribute as much as 80% to the sport’s coffers, Mr du Plessis said.

Over the past two years the group has been fighting to be allowed to charge bookmakers higher fees to be able to take bets on the races that they host.

Bookmakers have to pay a licence fee to be allowed to take bets on horse races, but Mr du Plessis said the contribution made by these private businesses should be higher. "The playing field is not level and the sport of horse racing is suffering," he said. Mr du Plessis also said bookmakers take about 43% of all bets on horse racing, but contribute only 12% to covering the cost of the sport.

Sanlam Investment Management analyst Charl de Villiers said the issue of the open bet was not new and was unlikely to be resolved soon. "They have been lobbying the government on the issue for a while," he said.

Gaming relies on punters feeling wealthy and on discretionary spending. Consumers have been struggling with weak economic conditions and hikes in electricity and fuel prices, as well as large increases in municipal rates over the past two years.

"In general, gaming revenues have been under pressure for the past few years and we haven’t seen the same uptick we have seen in retail sales — it hasn’t filtered through to gaming stocks," Mr de Villiers said.

Phumelela showed that its strategy to diversify the business and grow its footprint is being rewarded by a growing contribution from international operations.

Profit before tax for the international business doubled to R34,9m in the six-month period.

Lol Greg. How's Atlantic City. ? Who said the rand was going to depreciate ?

Anyway, I'll see your earnings update and raise you one Public Prosecutor investigation.

www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/gau...ce-courses-1.1282243

Can't beat that Gajima...:

Interesting footnote in the IOL link:-

Maharaj denied the trust belonged to the sports umbrella body. He said the trust’s members were Sascoc, Phumelela and the RA.

He said: “Nobody owns shares in the trust.It funds good causes in the industry and does not run the industry.

MR. Maharaj kindly get your decision makers of the racing trust to explain how then is it possible that a site as beneficial to racing as Formgrids which has always been and remains free of charge has to be funded by Dave Safi in his personal capacity with ZERO support from the above mentioned....when one considers that everyone is unanimous in their support for the site and that it has become an integral part of the racing industry not only Punters but Jockeys, Trainers, Breeders, Bookmakers etc all benefit from the wealth of information made available on the site and yet the racing trust still cant (or wont) see that it falls squarely into the "good causes" category and not only deserves your support but should high up on the priority list.....

Titch maybe David has not been forgiven for trying to give punters a fair shout?

mr hawaii Wrote:

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> Titch maybe David has not been forgiven for trying
> to give punters a fair shout?


It certainly looks like it...there can be no other explaination???

Titch as you know we have kept formgrids free to the industry with the thinking that it helps with the upliftment of racing,,, the more information you give a customer the more he gets involved the more he will spend,, so we are helping Phumelela/Gold Circle by enhancing their product ,, not that the spent money comes to us but we are hoping that it goes to the racing operators who should be using SOME of it for GOOD CAUSES ,, in 1986 we founded the South African Racegoers Association to give the racegoer a voice,, we were met with stiff opposition by industry leaders who believed in secrecy of information which they feel belongs to a privileged few,, so naturally we became very unpopular in the hierarchy of racing,, we have always strived for the betterment of racing in the interest of the punter and fought to give the racegoer a chance in the game,,, the public wager hard earned money on the outcome of races,, and the takeout money comes from the betting public and some money should be reinvested to benefit the betting public as well as going to stakes and Phumelela expenses and shareholders,, we have been approached countless times and still get approached daily by bookmakers willing to fork out top dollar to advertise or do a joint venture with our site, we avoid this because we have been trying to support the tote because of the takeout that we hope gets pumped back into racing by Phumelela,, however we may have to start charging soon and do a deal with a bookmaker,,

mister a THATS THE BEST POST I HAVE EVER SEEN ON THIS SITE....it amazes me that you write the more information the punter gets the more he will bet BUT THE INDUSTRY WONT LISTEN AND I HAVE FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE TO BACK IT UP ...HEY CRAIG ?they would rather sell their prized assets to fund the industry but we all know this is a short term solution...

Thanks for the above pirates,, they sold OUR assets,,, i would love to hear the collective prices of the courses sold and for someone involved to explain how this money SAVED racing in SA,, give us a break down of what was done with the money so we wouldnt be so bitter about it

mister a you have a world class product i wouldnt waste my time trying to engage with the south african racing industry rather try sell it to countries that embrace information such as australia hong kong etc...

you are right pirates Phumelela have told me they concentrate on the R20 punter in the tote as they have found through studies that the bulk of their income comes from this group,, they feel that only a small minority own and use computers so no need to cater for them