RATING DRIVERS
Supporting Factors
- Strong brand loyalty and long history as a well-known betting, gaming, and lottery operator in Jamaica
- Legally binding service agreements for reputable and commercially tested technology supports efficient business operations
- Good financial performance characterized by good profitability and sound debt protection metrics
- Regulatory environment supports stable operations
- Sound governance structure and risk management practices
Constraining Factors
- Significant sovereign risk due to its high exposure to the Jamaican economy
Rating Sensitivity Factors:
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to an improvement in the ratings and/ or Outlook include:
- Improvement in the GOJ’s credit rating, leading to an improved overall credit risk profile
- An increase in earnings from its Guyana operations to more than 15% of SVL’s annual profits
- Revenue increase by more than 20% per annum for 2 consecutive years
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a lowering of the ratings and/ or Outlook include:
- A deterioration in the GOJ’s credit rating over the next 12-15 months
- A deterioration of SVL’s revenue by more than 25%
COMPANY BACKGROUND
Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL or The Group), is a Jamaican entity formed in 1995 which operates a successful gaming entity that has developed into a broad spectrum of gaming brands and entertainment companies. The Group includes subsidiaries namely, Prime Sports (Jamaica) Limited, PosttoPost Betting Limited, Supreme Ventures Racing & Entertainment Limited (SVREL), Supreme Ventures Services Limited, Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited and Supreme Group Incorporated.
In June 2001, SVL launched its lottery operations employing 28 employees and introduced two out of three games it was licensed to offer, Lucky 5 and CashPot. The third game, Dollaz! came on stream in January 2003. The Group has earned a reputation of being one of the leading and more dynamic companies in Jamaica and acquired 100% of the shareholdings in the Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC) in December 2003. SVL was listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2006 when its portfolio had grown to include Sports Betting through its JustBet brand and Video Lottery Terminals[1] (VLTs) via its Acropolis Gaming Lounge which commenced in Kingston in July 2005.
In August 2009, Supreme Ventures became the first provider of a mega-million multi-jurisdictional lottery game, Super Lotto, in eight countries in the Caribbean. The Group has earned the title of the premier gaming and entertainment provider in Jamaica and enhanced this reputation in 2017, when it was successful in its bid to become the sole operator of Caymanas Park[2]. With the support from the horseracing industry, SVL began operating Caymanas Park under the company name, Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL).
Currently, SVL offers 11 lottery games through a network of 1,200 retail stores and 1,500 terminals, JustBet sports betting products as well as the Acropolis Gaming Lounge and employs over 500 persons. SVL derives its revenue from 3 main segments which include lotteries, sports betting[3] and PIN Codes[4]. For the year ended December 2020, the lotteries operations remained SVL’s main source of revenue contributing approximately 69.2% of total revenue. As at August 2021, SVL’s corporate structure includes 6 subsidiary companies (Table 1).
[1] Video Lottery Terminal is a type of electronic gambling machine.
[2] Caymanas Park is Jamaica’s only horse racing track. SVL operates the track on a lease from the Jamaican Government.
[3] In addition to sports betting revenue, this segment also includes income from horseracing and VLTs.
[4] Personal Identification Number is a numeric or alpha-numeric number used in the process of applying phone credit to mobile devices (credit top ups).
Analytical Contacts:
Kyla Balwant
Tel: 1-868-627-8879
E-mail: [email protected]
Anelia Oudit
Tel: 1-868-627-8879 Ext. 226
Mobile: 1-868-487-8364
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.caricris.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Disclaimer: CariCRIS has taken due care and caution in compilation of data for this product. Information has been obtained by CariCRIS from sources which it considers reliable. However, CariCRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. No part of this report may be published / reproduced in any form without CariCRIS’ prior written approval. CariCRIS is also not responsible for any errors in transmission and especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to the subscribers/ users/ transmitters/ distributors of this product.