The racing statuary body and sports betting operator saw its gross betting revenue increase to NZ$36.5m (US$26.2m), which was $6.5m above its budget. Turnover was $34.5m ahead of its expectations, coming in at $224.5m.

The operator saw its December net profit before distributions increase by $1.7m from December 2019 up to $16.2m, which was $4.4m above budget. Its year-to-date operating profit for the 2020/21 fiscal year, from 1 August to 31 December, was $13.1m more than the same period last year, at $77.4m.

Tab NZ attributed the revenue and profit increase to the start of the summer sports season in the region, which saw the New Zealand and Australian cricket team’s kick-off their home seasons and the National Basketball Association (NBA) restart.

As a result, the top seven sporting events by turnover for the month – excluding horse racing – came from cricket, with the third T20 International between New Zealand and Pakistan on 22 January topping the list with a turnover of $555k.

The active customer base for December was 97,000, while racing codes were paid $12.9m in actual distributions for the month, which consisted of Tab NZ betting profit, offshore bookmaker commission fees and betting duty repeal.

In November, the operator posted a 6% revenue rise for the 12 months to 31 July 2020, up to $369.6m.