Investors win big with bet on Chinese lottery firm's shares
Seen as a cleaner option than casinos, China is expected to overtake the United States as the world's biggest market for lottery ticket sales by 2015
Every day during his lunch break, Shenzhen businessman Shen Bin buys three lottery tickets for about 33 US cents apiece and watches to see if his chosen numbers flash across television screens suspended from the ceiling.
“I haven’t won yet. Hopefully one day. But for now, it doesn’t matter because the money goes to charity,” Shen said in the brightly lit store on a busy road.
Half a world away in New York, investors in Chinese online lottery platform 500.com have found their own winning ticket: the stock has nearly tripled from its UA$13 initial public offering price in the six weeks since its New York Stock Exchange debut.
500.com, the only Chinese lottery firm listed in the United States, is among a handful of listed companies that stand to benefit as China whittles down thousands of private lottery operators to a handful of licensed and regulated firms serving more than 400 million punters, industry experts said.
“Over the next five years, it is very clear that the Chinese market will continue to grow very quickly and the government regulatory regime will become more open and transparent,” said Zhengming Pan, chief financial officer at 500.com.
