A tough year for the company

The scandal-ridden online casino and lottery company 500.com has released its financial figures for 2019, showing a loss of more than $91m for the year. It also has serious cash flow problems to deal with. 

company revenue dropped by over two-thirds

The company is based in Shenzhen, China and is also listed on the NASDAQ. For the final quarter of 2019, revenue was only $1.2m – less than a third of the figure reached in Q4 2018. The operating losses for 500.com as a result multiplied by three, with the net loss for the quarter being $44m.

For the entire year, company revenue dropped by over two-thirds, only reaching $5.7m. Total net losses hit $91.1m.

Beginning of the sharp decline

One of the main reasons for the sharp decline in the fortunes of 500.com was the issues it experienced with its Multi Group (TMG) subsidiary, which focuses on the European market.

Almost 99% of 500.com’s revenues in the final quarter came from this subsidiary, with its Multilotto brand offering a variety of online casino and lottery products in the region. 

Things began to go south with the launch of the licensed Swedish online gambling market at the start of 2019. The newly established market required all account holders with Multilotto to re-register for accounts. Many customers did not bother to sign up. 

Not renewing its Swedish license

500.com also failed to renew its Swedish license on time, which saw TMG’s operations in Sweden suspended at the beginning of January 2020. This could be another major negative impact on its fortunes, since over 60% of the total customers for the subsidiary are based in Sweden. 

first quarter of 2020 will be “materially and adversely impacted”

The company is still waiting to have its license in the country renewed. It has submitted its application and has been communicating regularly with the gambling regulator in the country.

As a result of the failure to have its license renewed, 500.com has warned investors that the first quarter of 2020 will be “materially and adversely impacted.”

Controversy after controversy

500.com has been involved in numerous recent controversies. One of its early successes as a company saw it among the only two firms that China had authorized to offer an online lottery sales pilot program. However, the scheme was shut down at the start of 2015. The closure took place after the Chinese authorities discovered that administrators of provincial lotteries had not been fully reporting all income from online sources. 

More recently, 500.com has been at the center of a political bribery scandal in Japan. It allegedly bribed lawmakers in the country to obtain one of three casino resort licenses for one of the first casinos to be built in Japan.

The future looks bleak for 500.com as its revenues in Europe are pretty much non-existent. It does not have any other forms of revenue, and with mounting losses, its cash reserves of about $56m will be tested.