Supreme Ventures Ltd. is planning on expanding its operations even further in the gaming/slots machine business by establishing an outlet in May Pen, Clarendon.

Supreme Ventures said it will be opening a new gaming lounge at 35 Main Street in the busy town by the start of its financial year in November.

The company has been in a recruiting drive for the last two weeks to fill positions for an operations manager, slot attendants, cashiers and hostesses, among others.

"We are building out our facilities," Sonia Davidson, vice-president of corporate communications, told the Financial Gleaner. She, however, declined to comment on the estimated cost of the expansion.

The company is seeking to employee in excess of 50 persons for the initial start-up, with about 150 slot machines, which will be the main business in the early phase of its operations.

Supreme Ventures, which started out as a rival to the Jamaica Lottery Company which operated the popular Lotto games, quickly expanded its suite of gaming products as its Cash Pot and Lucky 5 offerings gained popularity.

So successful has its operation been that the company bought the Jamaica Lottery Company and expanded its operation to include video lottery games, remittance and cambio services. It also went into the gaming/slot machine segment of the market when it bought the popular Coral Cliff hotel and gaming lounge on Montego Bay's hip strip and in 2005 built the Acropolis Gaming and Entertainment centre in Barbican, St. Andrew.

It also operates two gaming suites under the Villagio brand at the Hilton Kingston hotel and the Holiday Sunspree Resort in Montego Bay and operates Prime Sports Jamaica Ltd.

The consolidated financial statements for the period ending April 2007 showed net profit after tax amounting to $228.95 million, representing a 102 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. This positive result is directly attributable to significant increases in revenue from all of the contributing segments, in particular lottery and gaming (VLT).

Lottery revenue amounted to $8.17 billion for the second quarter ending in June, compared to $7.20 billion for the corresponding period in 2006. VLT revenue was $379.41 million this second quarter, compared to $253.86 million for the similar quarter last year.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com