2021 - Supreme Ventures Group

21Mar

Supreme Ventures Fintech brings first microloan to market

Lottery Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, through its newly formed financial services subsidiary Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited, is now rolling out its first microcredit product, a loan aimed at its 1,300 retail agents.

Starting with a $500,000 limit, the loan, branded as Evolve, is SVL’s first foray into the financial products space. It is being piloted as a small business loan that will eventually also become a personal consumer product. Full market roll-out is planned for the end of April.

The management of SVL says the facility is an all-digital financial solution based on an app developed by its credit risk technology partner Mo Technologies, headquartered in Bogota, Colombia.

Mo deploys technology-driven financial products throughout Latin America and the United States. The company utilises artificial intelligence to devise credit-scoring systems that integrate non-traditional variables into predicting creditworthiness and the probability of default by banked or unbanked potential borrowers.

Xesus Johnston, CEO of SVL subsidiary Prime Sports Limited, which has responsibility for SVL Fintech, says already a half of SVL’s retailers have been pre-approved for the loan, for which application, approval, disbursement, repayment, account management and communication with loan recipients are done online via the app downloaded to the phones of clients.

He said that at this point, pre-approval of some 650 of its retailers for the loan is determined from historical and other data fed into the platform, which then sets credit limits.

“As we move outside our retailer base, persons will be able to submit information online through the Evolve portal and we will be able to establish a pre-authorised lending amount and we will also be able to look at any sort of credit risk that is involved,” said Johnston.

“Evolve is not for SVL retailers only. It is part of our strategic thrust into Fintech. It is the first of many products that we will roll out that will put us in the Fintech space,” he said.

The SVL management says the product is being designed in keeping with guidance already provided to the market by the Bank of Jamaica, which is in the process of assuming monitoring and regulatory supervision for microcredit companies under the newly passed Microcredit Act.

The loan to retailers, said Johnston, falls within SVL’s three-year-old retailer loyalty programme, which also includes health insurance benefits partnering with Sagicor Life Jamaica, security packages with KingAlarm and Guardsman Limited, and telecoms packages with provider Flow.

“Financial inclusion is important and many of our retailers may not be able to readily access credit from banks. We have seen the growth of microlending companies across Jamaica for the last five or six years and we believe we have a unique selling point with a fully digital platform that allows end-to-end management,” said the SVL executive.

The Evolve loan is being marketed only by SVL Fintech and has not been extended to the suite of products being offered by McKayla Financial Services Limited, a microcredit outfit in which SVL recently bought a majority stake.

McKayla, which was acquired through SVL Fintech, is being operated as a stand-alone entity, although both outfits are part of the same sector.

Johnston declined to disclose the amount of the pool of funds made available to SVL Fintech for onlending but said the investment is being financed from a combination of capital secured from the market through a recent bond raise as well as from retained SVL earnings.

“We have substantial funds aside. We have access to both the funds that were raised and internal funds that we put aside. The raise was to facilitate new business ventures of which Evolve is one,” he said.

The roll-out of the loan product is still in the pilot phase, according to the Prime Sports CEO, who adds that adjustments to the product, including the loan ceiling, were possible before its wider market roll-out.

Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20210321/supreme-ventures-fintech-brings-first-microloan-market

01Mar

Supreme Ventures holds cash for acquisitions

Supreme Ventures Investments, News

Supreme Ventures Limited indicates that cash holdings, which have almost doubled year-over-year, will be used to support the company’s acquisition goals.

The group generated positive cash flows from operations of $3.67 billion to close December 31, 2020, with a balance of $6.26 billion representing an increase of 74.13 per cent over the prior year.

In addition to cash provided by normal operations, the group increased third-party loans by $3.50 billion, primarily to assist in the funding of acquisitions.

With its financial year closed on December 31, 2020, SVL reported net profits of $2.42 billion, representing a decline of $52.69 million (two per cent less) over the prior year.

Profits issued from gross gaming income of $39.36 billion, represented an increase of $843.89 million, or 2.19 per cent over 2019.

Direct costs amounted to $30.61 billion or 0.02 per cent lower than the prior year.

Total winnings for the year to customers amounted to $52.02 billion, an increase of 2.46 per cent in 2019.

Chairman Gary Peart stated, “SVL continues to leverage its fixed distribution network by investing in new complementary businesses and product lines.”

He outlined that 2021 will see the advent of new financial services and related transactional product offerings which will further benefit the retail network and the main operations.

During the year, SVL acquired the assets of Champion Gaming Limited amounting to $1.5 billion.

The chairman said that “the buildout of the agent network in Guyana remains a key area of focus and we have seen significant strides in building out the base to support the accelerated growth of the business in tandem with the expected economic growth in the country.”

“Supreme’s focus on digitisation and improving the mobile offering for lotteries, sports betting and horse racing continues to be seen as an area of opportunity to enhance the customer experience and the ease of doing business,” Peart stated.

SVL said even before COVID-19, it was managing costs and has implemented significant cost savings initiatives while continuing to invest in the buildout of the company’s infrastructure.

“We have become more agile in our ability to meet customer and stakeholder requirements and have improved communications within our retail network,” directors stated.

Total assets increased at year-end 2020 by $6.11 billion to $15.53 billion.

Directors outlined that the major increase is attributable to the acquisition of the assets of Champion Gaming Limited in January 2020, deposits on gaming equipment and the net proceeds of the corporate bond issued in the 4th quarter.

It was noted that, despite COVID-19 and resulting closures in the Sports Betting segment, all segments performed creditably in comparison to the previous financial year, reflecting increases of 4.51 per cent.

The Lotteries and PINs segments earned $4.44 billion, an increase of 26.02 per cent over the prior year.

Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/supreme-ventures-holds-cash-acquisitions

21Feb

SVL reports market conflict as gaming business heats up

Supreme Ventures News

Huntley Medley – Jamaica Gleaner – February 21, 2021

Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, expected its lottery ticket sales to dip at the entry of two new players this month. Instead, it is claiming that sales jumped since the entry of Mahoe Gaming Enterprises Limited and Goodwill Gaming Enterprises Limited.

Xesus Johnston, CEO of SVL’s main revenue-generation hub, Prime Sports Jamaica Limited, did not share specific sales revenue, however.

Soon after its start up, Goodwill Gaming had its operations halted by the regulator, Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission, BGLC, to iron out potential breaches of its approved operating guidelines.

Mahoe Gaming successfully débuted its Izizzi games.

As the market heats up, Johnston is reporting that the entry of new gaming companies and increased activity in the trade has led to what the SVL executive described as “channel conflict and confusion” at some retail locations, with some gamers being sold products other than what they intended to buy when bets are placed with agents that sell for the various lottery companies.

“I think that at the appropriate time, there will need to be some discussion – possibly an industry-wide discussion. At some point, the regulator may have to get involved in those discussions,” Johnson told Financial Gleaner while noting that videos have been circulating on social media showing the confusion created by the sales mix-ups.

Asked about SVL assertion and whether it was prepared to jump in to referee the matter, BGLC Executive Director Vitus Evans said the matter has not been brought to the attention of the regulator.

“The BGLC has not received any formal complaints from any licensee or consumer on this matter,” Evans said via email to the Financial Gleaner.

Attempts to get a comment from Mahoe Gaming were unsuccessful.

The market buzz has centred mainly on the popular single-number games, which are heavily advertised by both SVL and Mahoe Gaming.

SVL, which was the sole operator up to this month, has been particularly aggressive in the market since February 5, when Mahoe Gaming started its Izizzi games, paying $260 on every $10 bet for its One Drop single-number game.

On that day, SVL upped the prize on its Cash Pot game from $260 to $280 for every $10 bet, pushing the envelope further to $305 a few days later in an apparent move to outpace Goodwill Gaming’s planned $300 payout on every $10 bet for its Big Pot single-number game.

Cash Pot has been a cash cow for the SVL Group, pulling in around $30 billion in annual revenue the last time the lottery pioneer itemised its game earnings, two years ago. Comparatively, its next biggest game, Money Time, was then bringing in $6 billion.

“This is an unusual time. Jamaica is one of the only markets that has three operators offering the exact same product,” said Johnston. “What we are focused on is making it very clear to the consumers what our product is …,” he said.

SVL is facing direct competition for the first time, having dominated the lottery market for two decades. This June, it will mark 20 years of operation. It’s been positioning the business to take on the new rival lottery operators through game innovations; offering products that, Johnson noted, “persons in the gaming space will want to play”, but also hedging its bets by diversifying the group’s revenue base through business acquisitions and expansion into foreign markets.

Johnson said the SVL Group has been pursuing a business realignment strategy devised in 2018, with implementation starting in 2019, in preparation for the day when it would no longer be the only provider of lottery and gaming services in Jamaica.

“When we looked at the business that is SVL and our reach, we decided that our strategy would be to grow and diversify in the market,” he said.

Its M&A forays include Caymanas Park horse racing track; odds maker Post to Post Betting, which trades as AnyBet; the assets of Champion Gaming last year; and its most recent, McKayla Financial Services, which was acquired this month.

This action to consolidate the operations of two of its formidable rivals, AnyBet and Champion, within the group, Johnston said, has given SVL a better foothold in both the sport betting and slot machine markets.

Through McKayla, the company has stepped out of its comfort zone, the betting and gaming arena, into microfinancing.

As to its core business, SVL now operates a network of about 900 retailers, more than 1,300 physical sales points, and its recently introduced cadre of 100 ‘supa sellaz’ mobile sellers.

“We have invested billions of dollars in building out a very good channel. We are here to stay … ,” Johnston said.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20210221/svl-reports-market-conflict-gaming-business-heats

14Feb

Johnston: Supreme Ventures stepping up its game

Supreme Ventures News

Kimberley Hibbert – Jamaica Observer – February 14, 2021

CHIEF executive officer (CEO) of Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) subsidiary Prime Sports Ltd, Xesus Johnston, says the company is placing greater focus on its product, distribution and brand to effectively compete with the new lottery player Mahoe Gaming, which last week broke the gaming monopoly that SVL has held since 2001.

With just one week in with the competition, Johnston said the product adjustments, the most recent being the move to introduce $305 for every $10 winning on CashPot, has generated a lot of interest from players with the CashPot product.

“Our thought and vision has always been, regardless of competition, that we have to have the best product in the market, the best distribution in the market and we have to build the best brands in the market. Those three areas have always been the focus of the business and helps us to actually face the competitors and to perform well. Since the competitors launched, what we have done with our products has seen double-digit increases in sales. That’s positive and tells us we are doing the right thing for the customers who want a gaming or entertainment product in the market,” Johnston said.

He added: “If you think about distribution, traditionally it was only through retailers – brick and mortar. We’ve now added digital – online, where we now have our games online and you can purchase from SV Games with a debit or credit card. Plus, we’ve added another innovative sales channel called Super Sellers which is individuals who can walk on the streets with a wireless terminal and sell our gaming products by meeting customers in their neighbourhoods or high-traffic areas. Having a strong sales channel is important and being able to differentiate where you have traditional retailers and where you have mobile apps in the digital space where you can buy the products.”

Further, Johnston said SVL is still in a growth and innovation phase and will be looking to expand to 2,000 super sellers in the market.

“A lot of what we’re doing is about how we efficiently deliver to our customers the products and services that they need, and it requires building an extensive ecosystem that retail channels — both the fixed and online — are apart of , and that drives our business,” he said.

But, despite the realignment efforts, Johnston said a main challenge is complaints from buyers about channel conflict.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/johnston-supreme-ventures-stepping-up-its-game_214784?profile=1373

07Feb

Supreme Ventures enters microfinancing sector – Lottery firm buys majority stake in microlender McKayla

Supreme Ventures News, Uncategorized

Huntley Medley – Jamaica Gleaner – February 7, 2021

McKayla Financial Managing Director Delroy Josephs (left) and Damian Duncan of Supreme Ventures seal their deal – SVL’s 51 per cent acquisition of McKayla – with an elbow bump on Friday, February 5, 2021.

On the same day that a new lottery operator entered its core market last week, gaming company Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, inked a deal to purchase a 51 per cent controlling interest in microlender McKayla Financial Services, signalling SVL’s diversification into an additional business line to grow revenues and differentiate itself from competitors.

The acquisition of the Kingston-based microfinance company with seven locations nationwide and a customer base of more than 3,000 became effective on Friday, and was done through a newly created subsidiary, called Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited.

New financial products are expected to be rolled out over time through the new subsidiary.

The acquisition project and new subsidiary fall under the leadership of Damian Duncan, the new senior vice president of Prime Sports Jamaica Limited, another SVL subsidiary. Duncan joined SVL last August from National Commercial Bank, where he headed up mergers and acquisitions.

The McKayla acquisition price was not disclosed. Officials of SVL and McKayla said the merger would create a larger pool of funds for on-lending through the microlender’s network as well as via some of SVL’s network of 1,250 agents across the country.

Neither Duncan nor McKayla’s Managing Director Delroy Josephs was prepared to say if the proceeds of the sale would be applied directly to on-lending, nor was Duncan prepared to say which, if any, of SVL’s current technology providers would be engaged in building out a digital platform for the integration of the microfinance solutions.

“A lot of that is proprietary but we live in a world that is more and more digital. What we expect is for customers to have an easy interface on their phone, computer or tablet; that interface gathers all the information we need, addresses all the regulatory issues, and we provide a service within that framework,” Duncan said.

Duncan, an MBA graduate of Harvard Business School, has also had stints with American finance houses Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. His biographical profile lists him also a partner in Sage Global Finance, a US-based commercial finance and loan company.

SVL’s entry into financial services is expected to distinguish it from its competitors in the lottery business that SVL officials view as an increasingly mature business likely to bring declining financial returns as the space becomes more crowded. On Friday, new competitor Mahoe Gaming rolled out its Izizzi lottery games.

Duncan was not prepared to discuss new areas of business into which SVL planned to branch out, but said the group was on the lookout for new opportunities for mergers and acquisitions.

Business demands will determine whether there are more brick-and-mortar locations and which of the independent agent locations would be utilised as service points for the finance products. No name change is contemplated as SVL officials are convinced that McKayla Financial Services enjoys a strong brand presence and recognition in the market.

The acquisition is also being promoted as a benefit to SVL’s network of agents.

“The SVL agents are looking for financing solutions,” said Duncan. “If you can come out with a compelling solution that is easy to understand, that is transparent and that addresses the customers’ needs, you can compete in the market, do well and create value.”

There are no immediate plans to take the financial services business overseas as SVL spreads its wings into new jurisdictions including in Guyana and South Africa.

“The focus is on growing the business in Jamaica at this time,” Duncan said, while pointing out that overseas expansion of new the financial services is not entirely off the table for future consideration.