At the Annual General Meeting of The Hong Kong Jockey Club today (1 September), Voting Members elected one new Steward and re-elected four Stewards to the Board.
The new Steward, Mr Silas Yang Siu Shun, JP, was elected to a one-year term to fill the vacancy left by Dr Rita Fan Hsu Lai Tai, GBM, GBS, JP, who retired from the Board for the reason that she will soon reach the age of 70. Dr Fan served on the Board for seven years.
At the same time Stewards Mr Anthony W K Chow, SBS, JP; Dr Christopher Cheng Wai Chee, GBS, JP; Mr Michael T H Lee, JP; and The Hon Sir C K Chow, GBS, JP were re-elected to serve further terms of three years each.
Following the Meeting, the new Board of Stewards re-elected Dr Simon S O Ip, CBE, JP as Chairman and Mr Anthony W K Chow, SBS, JP as Deputy Chairman for 2015/16.
Mr Silas Yang, JP, (biography attached) is a keen racing enthusiast, and is currently a co-owner of Rich Tapestry and Fun Tapestry. Last year the former won the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, becoming not only the first Hong Kong horse to win in the United States, but also the first to win an International Grade 1 race there. Mr Yang recently retired from the position of Asia Pacific Chairman and Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) China and Hong Kong. He is active in the community and is a Vice Patron of the Community Chest.
Earlier Dr Ip, reviewing the highlights of last year (financial year ending 30 June 2015, racing season ending 12 July 2015), said it had been a truly memorable year, not least because it was the Club’s 130th Anniversary. Dr Ip noted that the territory-wide programmes under the theme of “Riding High Together for a Better Future” had enabled the Club to reach out to the community and to share its core values of excellence, integrity and philanthropy.
Business-wise, the Club enjoyed another record year, with total turnover for the financial year growing by 10% to HK$191.44 billion (HK$193.95 billion, up 12.7% for full racing season). Payments to Government in taxes and to the Lottery Fund for the financial year recorded an all-time high of HK$21.22 billion (HK$21.52 billion for full racing season). The Club’s net margin and commission was HK$10.47 billion (HK$10.57 billion for full racing season).
The Club’s Charity donations achieved a new record of HK$3.87 billion, the second year in a row that the Club has exceeded the HK$3 billion mark. Adding together betting and lottery duties, profits tax, contributions to the Lotteries Fund and charitable donations, the Club's total direct return to the community reached a remarkable HK$25.09 billion in 2014/15, up 2.9% on 2013/14 (HK$25.40 billion, up 5.2% for full racing season).
Dr Ip noted that last year’s impressive donations were almost double the HK$1.95 billion the Club donated as recently as 2012/13. While stressing that the Club’s commitment to supporting the broad range of community needs remains as strong as ever, Dr Ip revealed that the Club is adopting a new approach towards its charitable work.
“This involves a transition from the Club’s traditional role as a provider of charitable funding to others, to becoming a proactive and transformative philanthropist in its own right; seeking out the root causes of social issues, and then working in partnership with Government and the community to resolve them,” he explained.
The first result of this new philanthropic role is the Club’s decision to place a special emphasis on three specific areas of community need. “These are firstly to address the needs of our young people by helping them identify and achieve their full potential; secondly to help build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city – a most pressing need given the rapid growth of our elderly population; and thirdly to improve the health, well-being and positive outlook of all sectors of society by encouraging more people to take part in sport,” he said.
These needs are being addressed under the headings of Youth for Innovation, Elderly for Care and Sports for Hope, with initiatives currently in progress in all three areas; notably CLAP for Youth @ JC, a HK$500 million career and life planning programme that is expected to benefit 200,000 young people over its five year duration.
Dr Ip welcomed the recently announced Club donation of approximately HK$120 million to support the Hong Kong Football Association’s five-year football development programme, which will promote football at all levels in the community. He looked forward to the future development of Hong Kong’s first purpose-built football training centre in Tseung Kwan O, supported by a Club total donation of HK$133 million, which will be available for training by elite teams as well as for community use. He also hailed the upcoming completion of the Club’s project to restore and revitalise Central Police Station, a heritage jewel that will become a ‘must see’ and ‘must do’ for Hong Kong citizens and international visitors alike.
Dr Ip emphasised that all of the Club’s achievements have been hard won. “Our horses would not have accomplished so much without the commitment, entered into many years ago, to build the Club into a world-class racing organisation. Nor would we have been able to grow our tax contribution, or charity donations, without a sustained focus on our customers and a very considerable investment in technology and infrastructure. As the very positive response to our 130th Anniversary celebrations makes clear, Hong Kong people fully appreciate this.”
Operational Performance Summary
The Club’s record returns to charity and Government in 2014/15 were the product of an equally record breaking business performance, where the Club achieved a total turnover from racing, football and the Mark Six lottery of HK$191.44 billion (HK$193.95 billion for full racing season). This performance is the result of a series of connected strategic initiatives – a focus on improving the quality of Hong Kong horses, the revitalisation of the racecourses under the Racecourse Master Plan, the deployment of advanced technology, as well as other initiatives – which have been implemented in recent years with the objective of building the world-class quality of racing and enhancing the Club’s customer focus. In all areas, there was significant progress last year.
The multi-year HK$6.3 billion Racecourse Master Plan continued to transform the two racecourses into centres of world-class sporting entertainment, with 10 new and renovated venues opening last season, and more to open in the coming season. These enhanced facilities, combined with the Club’s world-class racing, and the successful positioning of racing as a social and lifestyle-based entertainment experience, attracted a total racecourse attendance of 2.07 million last season, the highest attendance for 12 years.
On the racetrack, Hong Kong horses continued to build Hong Kong’s reputation as a centre of racing excellence. A record 23 Hong Kong horses were listed in the 2014 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, including Able Friend, who was ranked the joint-third best racehorse in the world for 2014. Meanwhile, Hong Kong horses won nine out of ten International Group One races at home, while overseas they were victorious in another four, including taking new trophies in the United States and Japan.
Racing turnover for the financial year reached HK$105.41 billion, up 1.4% on 2013/14 (HK$107.93 billion, up 5.8 % for full racing season) and the second time the Club has exceeded the HK$100 billion mark. Net margin, at HK$4.41 billion for the financial year was 0.3 % down on 2013/14 (HK$4.51 billion for the full racing season, up 3.9%).
Equally encouraging was the success of Hong Kong’s world-class racing product overseas, where, as a result of the extension of commingling to 11 partners last year, turnover grew from HK$137 million in 2013/2014 to HK$2.49 billion last year (HK$152 million to HK$2.64 billion for full racing season).
“All of this illustrates the significant interest in and attractiveness of Hong Kong racing overseas, driven by the quality and competitiveness of our racing product, the depth of our wagering tools and last but not least by our reputation for integrity,” Chief Executive Officer Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
Technology remains one of the Club’s core strengths. Two years ago the Club was the first racing organisation in the world to employ advanced odds calculation, utilising software originally developed for high-speed securities trading, which it used to relaunch the popular Quartet bet. Last season the Club used the technology to create a merged pool for the Quartet and First 4, and next season it will be introducing Composite Win, which offers customers an alternative way to pick winning horses in the Win pool.
On the football betting side, the Club achieved a record year with turnover up by almost 26% to HK$78.25 billion, generating HK$5.59 billion in tax payments with a similar amount returned to the Club. Given that last year’s high turnover was boosted, in part, by the World Cup, this continued upward trend is highly pleasing and indicates the success of the Club’s efforts to attract customers away from illegal bookmakers.
The Mark Six lottery experienced a slight 1.6% decline to HK$7.78 billion, these variations being mainly due to seasonal fluctuations in the number of jackpots and snowballs. The Mark Six nonetheless remains an important source of community funding, generating HK$1.95 billion in duty and a HK$1.17 billion for charity via the Lotteries Fund.
Looking to the future, good progress is being made on the Conghua Training Centre in Guangdong, which when complete will provide a world-class training facility for Hong Kong horses, plus additional stabling capacity, providing a solid platform for the Club as it enters its next stage of growth.
Summing up the Club’s position, Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges stressed that everything the Club does is targeted at maintaining its support for Hong Kong. “All of the Club’s efforts to build the quality of its racing and sporting entertainment ultimately have one objective: to sustain and grow its contribution to the community. This is why we are very focused on sustaining the Club’s business performance, not only in the short-term but over the decades to come. In a competitive and ever changing market environment the Club knows it can never stand still.”
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class horse racing operator and Hong Kong’s largest community benefactor, as well as one of Asia’s most prestigious membership clubs. Operating as a not-for-profit organisation, the Club allocates its surplus funds for charitable and community projects. In 2014/15, its donations reached a record $3.87 billion, and in the last decade alone it supported over 1,300 projects. The Club is also Hong Kong’s largest single taxpayer, contributing a record HK$20.05 billion in 2014/15. With about 70% of its revenue given back to society every year through donations and tax contributions, The Hong Kong Jockey Club delivers a significantly higher return to the community than any other racing and/or sports betting organisation in the world. As a socially responsible organisation, the Club helps Government combat illegal betting and advocates responsible gambling. The Club is also one of Hong Kong’s largest employers with over 24,000 full-time and part-time staff. Committed to global excellence and giving back to society, the Club is always “riding high together for a better future” with the people of Hong Kong.
Attachments
1) Biography of Mr Silas Yang Siu Shun
2) Results Summary of The Hong Kong Jockey Club 2014/15
The Hong Kong Jockey Club's 2014/15 Annual Report can be downloaded from the HKJC website at http://corporate.hkjc.com/corporate/operation/english/annual-report.aspx
|
Mr Silas Yang Siu Shun, Steward of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
|
