I received this summary from a reader:
They made a profit which is good but something is a bit alarming about it. The TAB is 50% of their income and it dropped. Even more alarming from my rough calcs is that the TAB tip in 3+ times more than Corporates do on the same turnover. So for every $1 bet with the TAB HRV need $3.50 bet with Corporates to get the same return.
Another 10% movement away from TAB to the Corporates would mean a net $7m loss to HRV. They paid out about $40m in prizemoney and made a $500k profit. They have already cut back costs to the bare minimum so that is not going to be able to help much in the future. We still owe millions plus interest on Melton. Prize-money is more likely to be going down than up.
The land owned at Melton may provide a one off injection if sold but its an old tip and I believe HRV are obligated to develop it. Where will that money come from?
By my calculations, if there were no Corporates and people punted the same amount on the TAB, it would mean $30m extra for HRV. If there were only Corporates and no TAB it would mean $27 m less. That is a $57m swing! Corporates are killing the game and should be paying lots more.
