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Hong Kong – Hong Kong Jockey Club reports record year

By - 7 September 2015

The Hong Kong Jockey Club had a record financial year ending 30 June 2015 with Chairman Dr Simon Ip, saying the club’s 130th Anniversary had been a truly memorable year.

The Club’s record returns to charity and Government in 2014/15 were the product of an equally record breaking business performance, where the Club achieved a total turnover from racing, football and the Mark Six lottery of HK$191.44bn (HK$193.95bn for full racing season). This performance is the result of a series of connected strategic initiatives – a focus on improving the quality of Hong Kong horses, the revitalisation of the racecourses under the Racecourse Master Plan, the deployment of advanced technology, as well as other initiatives – which have been implemented in recent years with the objective of building the world-class quality of racing and enhancing the Club’s customer focus. In all areas, there was significant progress last year.

The multi-year HK$6.3bn Racecourse Master Plan continued to transform the two racecourses into centres of world-class sporting entertainment, with 10 new and renovated venues opening last season, and more to open in the coming season. These enhanced facilities, combined with the Club’s world-class racing, and the successful positioning of racing as a social and lifestyle-based entertainment experience, attracted a total racecourse attendance of 2.07m last season, the highest attendance for 12 years.
Business-wise, the Club enjoyed another record year, with total turnover for the financial year growing by 10 per cent to HK$191.44bn (HK$193.95bn, up 12.7 per cent for full racing season). Payments to Government in taxes and to the Lottery Fund for the financial year recorded an all-time high of HK$21.22bn (HK$21.52bn for full racing season). The Club’s net margin and commission was HK$10.47bn (HK$10.57bn for full racing season).

The Club’s Charity donations achieved a new record of HK$3.87bn, the second year in a row that the Club has exceeded the HK$3 billion mark. Adding together betting and lottery duties, profits tax, contributions to the Lotteries Fund and charitable donations, the Club’s total direct return to the community reached a remarkable HK$25.09bn in 2014/15, up 2.9 per cent on 2013/14 (HK$25.40bn, up 5.2 per cent for full racing season).

Dr Ip noted that last year’s impressive donations were almost double the HK$1.95 billion the Club donated as recently as 2012/13. While stressing that the Club’s commitment to supporting the broad range of community needs remains as strong as ever, Dr Ip revealed that the Club is adopting a new approach towards its charitable work.

“This involves a transition from the Club’s traditional role as a provider of charitable funding to others, to becoming a proactive and transformative philanthropist in its own right; seeking out the root causes of social issues, and then working in partnership with Government and the community to resolve them,” he explained.

The first result of this new philanthropic role is the Club’s decision to place a special emphasis on three specific areas of community need. “These are firstly to address the needs of our young people by helping them identify and achieve their full potential; secondly to help build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city – a most pressing need given the rapid growth of our elderly population; and thirdly to improve the health, well-being and positive outlook of all sectors of society by encouraging more people to take part in sport,” he said.

Dr Ip emphasised that all of the Club’s achievements have been hard won. “Our horses would not have accomplished so much without the commitment, entered into many years ago, to build the Club into a world-class racing organisation. Nor would we have been able to grow our tax contribution, or charity donations, without a sustained focus on our customers and a very considerable investment in technology and infrastructure. As the very positive response to our 130th Anniversary celebrations makes clear, Hong Kong people fully appreciate this.”

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