Britain's controversial National Lottery operators, Camelot, yesterday reported a massive surge in their pre-tax profits of 14 per cent to more than £80 million sterling, prompting complaints from some church figures that not enough money was being put aside for good causes.
In post-tax terms Camelot's profits amount to u54.2 £54.2 million and sees the operator breaking through the u1 £1 million profit a week mark for the first time since the lottery began in November 1994.
Overall sales increased by 17 per cent to u5.5 £5.5 billion in the year to March 31st, 1998, and contributions to good causes went up by 23 per cent to £1.566 billion.
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rev Richard Harries, described the lottery as a "national obsession" and accused Camelot of "spiritual damage" by offering large money prizes on a weekly basis.
When the lottery licence was renewed in 2001, he said, the new operators must look again at the relationship between profits and the amount of money given to charity.
However, Camelot's figures provided some consolation for the Culture Secretary, Mr Chris Smith, who clashed with the operator's directors last year over their so-called "fat cat" pay rises of 40 per cent. This year Camelot reported a 1 per cent pay rise for directors to a total of £2.4 million while executive directors saw their salaries rise from between 2 per cent and 19 per cent. Performance related bonuses, which were based on last year's figures, fell by 16 per cent reflecting last year's pre-tax profit of £70.8 million.
Camelot's finance director, Mr Peter Murphy, countered attacks on the operator by pointing out that profits represented less than one penny in every pound spent on the lottery. He argued that not only had the amount of money going to good causes increased in the past year, but the total proportion paid in government duty, tax and the National Lottery Fund had also increased by 1.5 per cent which in real terms was an extra £75 million.
He denied last year was Camelot's annus horribilis saying the controversy over the amount of money paid to the directors was "an old story".
Mr Smith's office declined to comment directly on Camelot's results, but a spokesman said that when the lottery licence comes up for renewal the government would be seeking an operator which did not make "excessive profits".