ALTERNATIVE gaming specialist Niveus Investments said on Thursday it was disappointed that local gambling boards and government had not done more to shut down illegal gambling operations.

It said this lack of action had forced the company to inject some of its own funds into the fight.

“Illegal gambling is growing and we have seen no real effort from the respective gaming boards to curb its proliferation. We have contributed R2.5m to the group’s efforts, but ultimately the only long-term solution will be decisive action by the various government departments that are tasked with upholding the law.

“We are disappointed that the Department of Trade and Industry is focusing on curbing legal gambling, while illegal gambling is allowed to grow unabated,” the company said.

In the six months to September 30 2015, Niveus Investments reported a rise in net asset value per share to R10.95 from R10.68 a year ago.

It said revenue increased to R574m from R548m a year ago, but the group made a loss of R33.8m from a profit of R49m at the end of September 2014.

Niveus declared an interim gross ordinary dividend of 7c per share.

Niveus said the results showed resilience despite the tough trading environment, but “the performance was below our expectation and we hope that the efforts to improve business processes, together with litigation and interaction with the various gaming boards, will be fruitful”.

Source: BDLive