Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney said July was "a very robust sales period,"

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Lottery began fiscal year 2019 in a familiar position, watching as sales increase but the agency's profits decline.

Overall Lottery sales last month were up $17.3 million from July 2017, an increase of 4.5 percent.

Despite the boost in sales, the Lottery reported a $13 million decline in net profit over last year, bringing in $83.8 million this July.

Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney said July was "a very robust sales period," but reminded the Lottery Commission of the trend of "some very significant continuous high payouts of wins" that ended fiscal 2018.

"The good news for our retail agents and for our customers is that trend very heavily continued in the month of July," he said Tuesday.

The Lottery's prize payout percentage, the amount of its revenue that was returned to players as winnings, was 73.21 percent last month, compared to 69.35 last July.

Sweeney said the Lottery's profits were down $13 million in July "primarily due to that high rate of cashing." He said the Lottery paid out $11 million more in July 2018 than in July 2017.

"Almost that entire amount is accounted for the difference between prizes claimed this July and last July, an $11 difference and a $13 million decrease in net profit," Sweeney said.

Five of the Lottery's nine products saw sales increases in July. Sales of Powerball, Megabucks Doubler, All or Nothing and Lucky for Life declined in July. Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who oversees the Lottery and has pushed for the authority to make Lottery products available online, said July's sales and profit report was more of the same.

"Basically, we're seeing the same scenario. We are doing great marketing, we are doing incredible advances in sales but we are basically staying in place with respect to our profit margins," she said.

"Again, we are hoping to modernize the Lottery and make sure that we can find a way to not only increase sales but to have more increased profits."

After a record-setting year in fiscal 2017, profits at the Massachusetts Lottery fell by about $50 million in fiscal year 2018 despite a record high level of sales, the Lottery announced last month.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/lottery-sales-up-but-profits-down/article_d7d4aa10-bc0b-50bc-bbc3-87b97ead5985.html