Business
Delta Corp Resurfaces with Easing of Covid Grip
Physical Casino and Hospitality Divisions Rise Up Again
Srinagar, Jul 29: India’s only publicly listed casino operator Delta Corp has reported a 233 percent YoY (year-on-year) growth in gross revenues to Rs 314.46 crore for the first quarter of the 2022-23 Fiscal Year and a 16.5 percent increase over its Q4 FY 2021-22 results. The growth has been driven mainly by the company’s casino gaming division, backed up by a significant increase in hospitality revenues and continuous improvement of the online skill gaming division.
After staying closed for the greater part of 2021, Delta Corp’s main business – casino gaming, registered gross revenues of Rs 250.72 crore, marking a 505.17 percent YoY growth from the Rs 41.43 crore gross revenues of last year’s quarter ending on June 30, and a 19.02 percent growth over the Rs 210.66 crore gross income in the quarter ending on March 31, 2022.
Delta’s hospitality business rose 103 percent YoY and 18.5 percent from the previous quarter to Rs 19.91 crore. The company’s profits grew by 10.29 percent to Rs 77.38 crore from the Rs 70.16 crore reported after March, reversing the Rs 35.22 crore loss of Q1 FY 2021-22.
The Fiscal Year that ended on March 31, 2022 brought a total of Rs 765.2 crore in gross revenues for Delta Corp marking a 48.4 percent YoY growth.
Online Casino Gaming Keeps Growing
While the country’s land- and river-based casinos went through major ups and downs caused by the pandemic-related restrictions, online casinos together with SevenJackpots India and other casino comparison platforms experienced a constant surge of interest and steady growth. The upward trend was fueled not only by Covid-19 stay-at-home rules, but also by rising smartphone penetration and internet coverage, cheap mobile data plans and convenient digital payment options.
Delta Corp’s online gaming division was no exception, registering a 3.06 percent growth to Rs 43.83 crore over previous quarter’s gross revenues of Rs 42.53 crore on the back of a 19.1 percent growth registered between Q3 and Q4 FY 2021-22.
The division features online poker site Adda52.com, online rummy platform Adda52rummy.com and the new addition LeagueAdda.com offering online fantasy sports.
Upcoming Legal and Tax Policy Changes will Shape the Future of the Sector
While growth and expansion are the words that best describe what is happening to India’s offline and online casino sector, its future will be shaped by the changes in the legal and tax policy environment related to gaming which are currently brewing in the country.
In May this year, the Central Government set up an inter-ministerial committee with the task to study global best practices on online gaming regulation, consult experts, and elaborate recommendations for a broad framework of laws to regulate online gaming in India on a national level.
The panel was mandated to examine a number of issues such as compliance burden and ease of doing business, creation of a level playing field, as well as gamer protection matters concerning the risks associated with gaming including addictions and problem gambling.
Another panel, an eight-member Group of Ministers (GoM) presided by the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K. Sangma, was established in May 2021 with the mandate to examine GST applicability and valuation issues concerning levy of services provided by online gaming, casino, lottery and horse racing operators.
In May this year, the GoM submitted its report with recommendations for GST policy updates including a uniform levy for all gaming varieties at a rate of 28 percent over the full ticket value of all transactions. Concerning casino gaming, the suggestion was to charge GST on the full value of chips purchased by a player, but subsequent bets, including those made from winnings, not to be charged.
Based on input from Goa Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho, the GST Council at its 47th meeting held in June did not adopt the GoM recommendations and directed the panel to reexamine its report. The GoM has scheduled its final report to be delivered in August, after failing to reach consensus in July.
It remains to be seen how the work of both panels will be finalized and adopted by legislators and what the effects will be on the functioning and scope of India’s offline and online casino gaming industry.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, Bitcoin (BTC), rose to levels not seen since May 2022 on Friday, the day after the American Thanksgiving holiday, amid calm trading in traditional markets, CoinDesk reported.
The price of the cryptocurrency dropped to levels around $37,800 after momentarily touching $38,000 earlier on Friday morning. Now that it has remained over the $38,000 barrier for a few hours, Bitcoin looks like it is trying to move higher.
The uptick in price comes as investors are expecting a possible approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
“With the BTC ETF lurking around the corner – which may be Jan .11 for the 14b1 consent (not s1 approval) there will be a new layer of volatility to the market,” Laurent Kssis was quoted as saying by CoinDesk.
“Due to the ease of trade and cost-effectiveness, a bitcoin ETF will attract more turnover in volumes from institutional investors currently not seen on crypto exchanges as they are not allowed to execute on these non-regulated exchanges by their compliance depts,” explained Kssis.
Kssis predicts that bitcoin could rally to $40,000 over the weekend.
“When approved, the volatility of BTC will be significant during these periods which create additional risks for investors but as well opportunities for those arbitraging. Would not be surprised if we see 40K being broken this weekend,” Kssis said.
Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market value, also gained over 3% on Friday.
MATIC has witnessed a notable price resurgence, surging from $0.503 to a high of $0.927 in the past month—an impressive 84% increase, ranking it among the top gainers on CoinMarketCap.
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IntoTheBlock reports a significant uptick in institutional and whale demand across the crypto sector. Notably, Polygon’s scaling solution experienced a 3,800% surge in large transactions (over $100,000) last month, contributing significantly to MATIC’s climb above $0.90 for the first time since May.
With a market cap of $8.2 billion, MATIC now holds the 13th position among cryptocurrencies. Despite this bullish trend, investors should exercise caution, considering the proximity to the July 13 wick levels, potentially indicating a formation of a double-top pattern on the daily chart, a signal of a possible trend reversal.
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From an on-chain perspective, the bulls appear to be firmly in control of the Bitcoin markets in November so far. If the miners keep accumulating, the BTC price is like to reclaim the $40,000 in the weeks ahead.
The Global In/Out of the Money (GIOM) data, which groups the current BTC holders according to their entry prices, also confirms this bullish forecast.
It shows that BTC must scale the $38,600 resistance for the bulls to be confident of flipping $40,000. As depicted below, 624,090 holders had bought 309,880 BTC at an average price of $38,612. If those holders sell early, they could slow down the rally significantly.
But if that resistance level caves, Bitcoin price will likely reclaim $40,000 as predicted.
On the downside, the bears could negate the optimistic prediction if the BTC price reverses below $33,000.
But, in that case, the 2 million BTC holders who bought 604,200 BTC at the minimum price of $33,900 will mount a support wall. If those investors can HODL, BTC price will likely defend the $34,000 territory and prevent a significant bearish reversal.
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