National Lottery Sales Fall

National Lottery operator Camelot reported a pre-tax profit dip of £200,000, to £49.3 million for the year to March 31, 2007. Sales for the period dropped to £4.91 billion from £5.01 billion, which Camelot attributed to a very strong quarter comparative in 2006. Chief executive Dianne Thompson said that over the past four years, sales had grown by over seven per cent giving it fifth spot in the global rankings of operators by sales. She added that, despite the overall fall in numbers, sales over interactive platforms were strong, to over £290 million, a rise of 35.4 per cent which helped offset a four per cent drop in draw-based ticket sales.