Author Archives: Supreme Ventures

The Supreme Ventures Foundation (SVF), the outreach arm of gaming group Supreme Ventures Limited, has shortlisted four entities for the top prize in the first staging of its Supreme Heroes programme.

The programme, which began in 2020, is focused on enhancing small community enterprises that not only generate economic activity in their area but assist the needy from their pockets.

Members of the public have until tomorrow September 17, to vote for their favourite on the Supreme Ventures Foundation website https://sv-foundation.com.

The programme kicked off with four heroes who were nominated by the public: Life Yard Restaurant and Eco-Tourism in Parade Gardens Kingston; New Horizons Christian Outreach in Spanish Town; Miss T’s Hardware run by Elma Thompson in Granville, St James and Miss Jenny’s Cornershop operated by Jennifer Brown in Norwood, St James.

Jamaica will have the chance to review their stories on the SVF social media pages on Instagram and Facebook and cast their vote on the SVF website for the most impactful Supreme Hero who will receive another grant from the foundation.

For the programme, each Hero developed a community project and received funding and support from the SVF to execute it.

They also received several weeks of capacity-building training from the Mona Entrepreneurial and Commercialization Centre (MECC) of the Mona School of Business Studies. They were provided with laptops to access virtual classes on taxation, copyright, marketing and other critical aspects of business operations.

SVF director Heather Goldson says the foundation is seeking to choose the best-performing project from the inaugural cohort to further award them a grant to pump into their social enterprises.

“All of our heroes have performed phenomenally. As with the entire country they faced very challenging circumstances given the impact of COVID-19 and some even suffered personal setbacks; however, they managed to regroup and complete their projects on time, making the best of the training we provided through MECC.

“This is the final stage of the programme and we are excited to see the continuation of the great work being done with this larger grant that one special hero is going to be awarded. Their communities stand to benefit significantly, and the Supreme Ventures Foundation is very pleased to have been able to make this investment and support these community stalwarts,” said Goldson.

The awarding of the grant will be based on several factors including the impact of their selected project and the heroes’ incorporation of the lessons learned into their enterprises.

Source: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/four-shortlisted-for-svf-supreme-hero-prize_231162[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_images_carousel images=”4953,4952,4951,4954″ img_size=”large” wrap=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Neville Graham – Jamaica Gleaner – September 11, 2021

Supreme Ventures Limited, SVL, which was the only lottery and gaming operator up to last year but is now competing with two rivals, told shareholders on Thursday that it still holds a 99.5 per cent market share.

The pandemic, plus the market changes, resulted in flat earnings for the dominant lottery company at $2.42 billion in 2020.

The continuing COVID-19 restrictions remain a concern for the company regarding their potential impact on its financial targets. For example, customers generally play on its gaming machines during the hours of 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., a period that now falls within the nightly curfew hours.

“When the lockdowns and curfews will have abated, my expectation is that there will be a massive jump in revenues and profits at that point,” said SVL Executive Chairman Gary Peart.

Earlier, he told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that the company expects better outcomes as it responds technologically and through diversification to the pandemic.

“We expect a positive upswing as we continue to leverage our online channels, a move which is aligned with the trend in the marketplace,” said Peart.

He told shareholders that 2020 year had been one of the most challenging in modern history as the company continues to grapple with the impact of COVID-19; and that SVL had dealt successfully with the introduction of two gaming companies, while maintaining a 99.5 per cent market share.

Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20210911/svl-claims-steady-995-market-share

Twenty students in State care are to be awarded full scholarships by the Supreme Ventures Foundation.

The scholarships are worth $100 million over four years.

The students will be selected by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency.

Supreme Ventures Foundation says the funds will go towards tuition, boarding, subsistence stipend and miscellaneous expenses for the duration of the students’ academic programmes.

The scholarships are part of the 20th anniversary activities of Supreme Ventures Limited.

Director Heather Goldson says the scholarships represent a partnership and investment in the future of Jamaica.

“There is no talent like Jamaican talent, no abilities like Jamaican abilities and we want to ensure that we recognise and give these hard working, high potential children the best shot possible despite their circumstances,” she said.

State Minister for Education Robert Morgan has lauded Supreme Ventures on the initiative.

“This $100 million scholarship fund is big for our children in State care and further emphasises the fact that tertiary education is within their reach,” he said.

The scholarship recipients will pursue studies in actuarial science, architecture, law, economics, civil engineering, dentistry and education among other disciplines.

Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20210911/supreme-ventures-awards-20-tertiary-scholarships-students-state-care

Despite ongoing challenges in the operating environment and downturns in the market, the Supreme Ventures Group (SVG) says it will continue to leverage new opportunities as it fuels increased growth across its diverse operation.

“We are optimistic that the plans we have for our group and the gaming sector will be a winning strategy going forward. We have set the stage and created the momentum that will allow us to take new, bold steps to ensure that we are prepared for the opportunities ahead.

“2021 is to be a year of more investment and growth, investment in technological infrastructure, growth in our markets and product lines, investment in human resource capacity and investment in operational capabilities,” said SVG Chairman Gary Peart in his outlook for the company at its 15th annual general meeting held yesterday.

Peart said that notwithstanding new competition in the marketplace, the company maintains dominance accounting for a significant portion of current market shares. “We recognise that the year [2020] has been one of the most challenging years in modern history as we grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic and [simultaneously] dealt quite successfully with the introduction of two gaming companies in Jamaica, we have remained the industry leader maintaining a 99.5 per market share. We are not daunted and we will continue to push ahead despite the impact of the pandemic.”

In its 2020 financial year the group earned profits of $2.4 billion and gross ticket sales of $76.3 billion — driven mainly by a four per cent or $2 billion increase in lottery and a $1.2 billion or 44 per cent increase in sports betting revenues. During the year payouts from the group totalled $51.7 billion and its shareholder base expanded to 6,400 investors with total dividend payouts of $1.9 billion. Total assets at the end of 2020 also grew to $15.6 billion. Group earnings up to the second quarter period ended in June amounted to $626 million.

The Prime Sports subsidiary, operators of gaming and lotteries products, continued to make significant contributions accounting for about 80 per cent of group revenues, a decent portion of which flowed from its sale of pin codes or phone credits. Chief executive officer (CEO) of Prime Sport, Xesus Johnston said that the segment in ensuring that it continues to deliver positive results will this year move to increase its cash payouts and retail programmes as it also leverages digital assets and expand online channels and retail locations. The export of its popular Cash Pot game to South Africa last year, the CEO said was just one of its many offerings that it will export overseas.

“Prime Sports as the engine of Supreme Ventures will continue to innovate and lead the growth in the market for SVL,” he said.

Lorna Gooden, general manager of racing subsidiary, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL), said that this segment will also continue to make positive contributions to the group via the upgrade of operational facilities, digitisation of services and an expansion of its distribution footprint. Since 2017, SVREL said it has made total investments of $3.2 billion, contributing revenues of $5.7 billion last year.

“We continue to reposition Caymanas as an international product and expect the harmonious relationship with all our internal and external stakeholders to continue as we move forward,” she said.

Dennis Chung, CEO of the Supreme Ventures Services Limited subsidiary, said that entity will likewise add to the winning strategy of the group as through its Business Hub, it will continue to provide solid back office and business support services as it blazes the trail as a positive revenue contributor.

“We maintain our position as a strong stable group of companies in the market that is focused on innovating and leveraging our potential. We continue to build out our Guyanese business and dive deeper into the world of online and interactive gaming and investing in new distribution channels. We are strengthening our competitive strategy in order to bring everything into the regulatory environment.

“We are on a path of continuous innovation, reinventing our self and launching new products. We continue to expect increased revenues from our sports betting services and all subsidiaries combined as we also give back to the local economy and community development,” Peart added, announcing that in commemoration of its 20th-year celebrations, the group through its corporate social responsibility arm will be awarding 20 full scholarships valued at $100 million to students who are wards of the State towards their academic studies this year.

Source: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-report/svg-looks-to-expand-winning-strategy-_230881

KINGSTON, Jamaica— After playing Super Lotto for two years, the latest ”super millionaire” says his $183 million jackpot hit came just in time to fulfil his financial obligations and accomplish his dreams.

The winning ticket with the numbers 08, 14, 24, 32, 34 and super ball 04 was sold in St Catherine at Goode Promotion on Tuesday, August 3. The hit on a $200 split ticket entitled the winner, A Alexander, to $183 million. The advertised jackpot for that draw was $305 million.

According to a release from Supreme Ventures, Alexander said while all eyes were on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and team Jamaica, his eyes were on bigger concerns.

The Super Lotto winner said that like many Jamaicans, COVID-19 had hit his household hard and cash was tight, but his big win flipped his fortunes in an instant and he is now part of an elite league of gamers who have claimed their share of the biggest jackpot game in the region.

The winner said he started with a set of numbers based on a previous draw with multiples of two. Coming up with his own pattern, he held tight to his numbers saying that “it was just his time to win”. Knowing the odds were high, he played Super Lotto for two years and remained hopeful that he would win one day.

His brother was the one who gave him the good news that he had won, much welcomed news after losing his main source of income during the pandemic.

Besides taking care of home and paying off his mortgage the winner said he is no longer looking for a 9 to 5. “I am going to put it in the bank and use it as collateral to start my own business,” he said.

“This is going to change everything for me. I am going to put it in the bank and log on every day to see it,” he said.

In a statement, Supreme Ventures said it “is the only Jamaican gaming company that really changes its customer’s lives by offering the largest jackpots on the market”.

Source: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Super_Lotto_pandemic_hit_winner_bags_$183m_jackpot