Malta's National Lottery Operator IZI Passes €1bn in Turnover as Pre-Tax Profit Doubles

IZI Finance, the Maltese group that runs the island's National Lottery and the Dragonara Casino, took more than €1 billion in stakes in a year for the first time and doubled its pre-tax profit to €14.4 million. Its lottery concession has under six years left to run, and the bond it sold in March to fund growth abroad runs almost four years beyond it.

• IZI Finance plc reported turnover of €1.172 billion for the year to 30 June 2026, up 27.4% from €920.0 million and the first time it has passed €1 billion, according to its audited results filed with the Malta Stock Exchange on 29 September
• Gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose 18.3% to €110.9 million, EBITDA 29.1% to €37.3 million and profit before tax 102% to €14.4 million, 70.2% above the €8.5 million the company had projected in February
• The National Lottery was the main driver: its revenue rose to €75.6 million from €64.2 million and it produced about 60% of group EBITDA, with the Dragonara Casino at about 21% and interactive gaming at about 8%
• The group paid €41.8 million in concession fees, gaming taxes and good-causes contributions, 37.7% of its GGR, in the year before Malta's new gaming tax took effect on 1 October
• It now has €60 million of listed bonds, including a €30 million 5.5% issue due 2036 sold in March to fund expansion abroad, while its lottery concession expires on 4 July 2032

Malta's Lottery Operator Crosses €1 Billion in Stakes for the First Time

IZI Finance plc, the IZI Group's listed holding and finance company, passed €1 billion in both turnover and player winnings in the year to 30 June 2026, according to company announcement 34/2026 and the audited statements its board approved on 29 September. Turnover rose 27.4% to €1.172 billion from €920.0 million and player winnings 28.4% to €1.060 billion from €825.5 million, leaving GGR up 18.3% at €110.9 million.

The group runs the lottery through wholly owned National Lottery plc, the casino through 60%-owned Dragonara Gaming Limited, and interactive gaming through IZI Interactive Limited. The board said the improvement was "driven principally" by growth at National Lottery plc. Segment revenue bears that out: the lottery's rose 17.8% to €75.6 million, the casino's 15.3% to €29.1 million and iGaming's 43.7% to €6.2 million.

EBITDA, which the company calculates after deducting lease payments, rose 29.1% to €37.3 million, a margin of 33.7% on GGR against 30.8%. Operating profit rose 63.8% to €19.4 million and profit before tax to €14.4 million from €7.1 million. After €5.7 million in tax, profit for the year was €8.7 million. That was 70.2% above the €8.5 million projected in the financial analysis summary published in February, a beat the board attributed principally to higher GGR from Type 1 games. Directors declared an interim dividend of €1,936,000, against €1,084,000 a year earlier.

A Second Bond, Cash on Hand and a Concession Clock

Net cash from operating activities rose about 40% to €39.7 million, and cash stood at €44.3 million at the year end against €7.0 million, helped by the March bond. That issue, €30 million of 5.5% unsecured bonds redeemable in 2036, was fully subscribed and closed early, according to the company's announcements. It sits alongside €30 million of 4.25% bonds due 2029; the statements carry the two at €59.1 million, with bank borrowings of about €29.4 million.

National Lottery plc won the 10-year concession in a tender, signing on 10 March 2022, and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) licensed it to take over from Maltco Lotteries, operator since 2004, on 5 July 2022, according to a 2023 financial analysis summary published by the Malta Financial Services Authority. The concession runs until 4 July 2032; the Dragonara concession was extended in 2023 to 28 July 2033 to compensate for pandemic closures.

National Lottery plc alone paid €31.1 million in fees, taxes and good-causes contributions, 41.1% of its GGR. Founder and chief executive Johann Schembri said the results "exceed all our targets" and that the group would pursue "targeted international opportunities with high barriers to entry", according to the group's results statement as published by MaltaToday. The statements list subsidiaries in Luxembourg, Austria, where IZIBet GmbH holds a sports betting outlet licence, and Brazil, but quantify no international revenue.

The €1 Billion Headline Flatters the Margin

Turnover counts stakes, and stakes grew faster than revenue: with winnings up 28.4%, GGR fell to about 9.5% of turnover from about 10.2%, so the milestone overstates the gain in what the business keeps. The profit story is stronger: GGR up 18.3% produced a doubling of pre-tax profit because staff, operating and gaming-tax costs grew more slowly and depreciation rose only 4.6% now that, in the board's words, the major investment programme in Malta is substantially complete. That leverage is real, but it rests on one exclusive domestic concession, and as Europe's lotteries press Brussels on the case for their model, IZI's numbers show what such a concession is worth to a private holder.

The 2036 Bond Outlives the Lottery Concession

The more consequential detail is the calendar. The lottery generates about 60% of EBITDA under a concession that ends in July 2032 and the casino about 21% under one that ends in July 2033, yet bondholders lent €30 million in March for repayment in 2036. The company frames the money as funding international growth, the obvious hedge against concession risk, but no international business has been quantified, and in August it liquidated a Luxembourg holding company in what it calls a rationalisation of its international operations. The 2029 bonds fall due well inside the current concession. Servicing the 2036 bonds after 2032 rests largely on IZI winning the next lottery tender or on the international plan producing earnings it has not yet disclosed.

IZI has turned Malta's lottery into a €1 billion turnover business and doubled its profit. Its bondholders are now lending against what it can earn after 2032.