Revenue for the three months ending on September 30 declined to RMB6.1m (£700,398/€788,051/$936,307). The Swedish-facing online lottery betting and casino operations from the subsidiary, The Multi Group (TMG), contributed RMB3.3m to the revenue. TMG successfully renewed its Swedish license in mid-September, after facing a halt in operations earlier in the year due to an administrative error.
The rest of the revenue for the quarter came from sports information services in China, generating RMB2.8m. However, operating costs wiped out the revenue, despite a 29.0% decrease to RMB56.2m. General and administrative expenses rose 7.7% to RMB46.4m, the only item experiencing a year-on-year increase. Revenue-related costs, sales and marketing, and service development expenditure all declined steeply.
Other operating income decreased to RMB487,000, alongside a RMB246,000 government grant and RMB892,000 in other operating expenses. This resulted in an operating loss of RMB50.2m for 500.com. Pre-tax loss narrowed to RMB43.4m, down from RMB95.8m in Q3 2019. After including non-controlling interests and foreign currency translations, the business comprehensive net loss came to RMB50.9m, showing a 40.5% improvement compared to the previous year.
Following the conclusion of an investigation into bribery allegations by law firm King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), it was found that there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing by a trio of consultants suspected of bribing a member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. These allegations led to the resignation of the operator’s chairman and chief executive, but 500.com’s special investigation committee cleared them of any wrongdoing.
