Small lottery rise cheers Camelot

There were 257 million winning Lottery tickets last year

UK lottery operator Camelot has hailed a rise in ticket sales, which it says shows the business is on the mend.

Sales of National Lottery tickets rose by £150m to £4.7bn last year, three times the rise of the previous year.

The amount of money raised for good causes increased by £60m to £1.3bn in the twelve months to 31 March.

Camelot said the increase was a vindication of its strategy, revised in 2003, to add extra games and expand sales channels.

Camelot revealed that it would bid for the next Lottery licence, which will take effect in 2009.

Innovation

Ticket sales for the main Lotto game remained flat at £3.2bn last year.

However, sales of non-Lotto games increased by 10.9% to £1.5bn.

There was also a significant increase in sales over the internet, interactive television and via mobile phones.

Our strategy for the coming year will focus on innovation Dianne Thompson, Camelot chief executive

Weekly sales through interactive channels are now above £2m.

Camelot said it had succeeded in bucking the trend of other Lottery games worldwide which have seen sales fall.

"I am very pleased to report that our strategy for growth continues to deliver," commented chief executive Dianne Thompson.

"Our strategy for the coming year will continue to focus on innovation by further developing our portfolio of games and extending the reach of The National Lottery through new channels of distribution."

The Lottery, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, has raised £16.5bn for good causes since its inception in 1994.