The Sunday Times on 8 Feb 2015 published an article “$8b bet on 4-D, horse racing, TOTO, games, more than both casinos combined”.
We would like to highlight that the comparison of figures of Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club and the two casinos was erroneous and not based on like-for-like comparison.
The figure of $8b indicates turnover of Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club, before payment of prizes/dividends. After taking into account the payment of prizes and dividends, the combined gross gaming revenue of Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club was much lower, with an annual average of $2.39b over the last five years.
Clearly, based on a like-for-like comparison, the combined annual gross revenue of Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club is only one-third of the combined annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) of the two casinos. The graphical representations are shown below:
It is unfortunate that the reporter of the article did not verify the accuracy of the contents which resulted in an erroneous and misleading headline of the article last week. We need to ensure that the figures are presented accurately to the public for clear understanding.
We would also like to take this opportunity to highlight that the operating surpluses from Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club are channelled to Tote Board to donate to worthy causes in society, to giving hope and improving lives of Singaporeans.
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