Polla Chilena closes the first quarter with 24% more revenue
Polla Chilena de Beneficencia presented its unaudited interim financial statements for the first quarter of 2026, showing a marked improvement in its operational performance. Between January 1 and March 31, the Chilean state lottery recorded gross revenues of 36.75 billion Chilean pesos, a 24% increase over the 29.628 billion recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The growth driver was Loto, its historical draw product, whose sales climbed from 24.3 million to over 31.4 million Chilean pesos year-on-year. The rest of the portfolio contributed less dramatically, but the numbers confirm that the traditional Chilean lottery segment maintains traction even against the advance of unregulated online gambling in the country.
After deducting the gambling tax provided for in Law 18.110, accrued prizes, and legal contributions to its network of twelve beneficiary institutions, the operator's net income stood at 6.496 billion Chilean pesos, compared to 5.466 billion in the comparable quarter of 2025. The state-owned company operates under the guidelines of the Public Enterprises System and maintains a limited margin, a common characteristic of social lottery models.
Final profitability also followed suit. The net profit for the quarter reached 592 million Chilean pesos, almost 72% above the 343 million of the same period in 2025, thanks to a decrease in sales costs linked to the technology provider's service, although administrative expenses increased due to higher commissions to the network of official agents and advertising campaigns. Polla Chilena closed the quarter with total assets of 11.611 billion pesos and no financial debt.
The result has immediate political implications. Polla Chilena has been strongly denouncing the advertising of unregulated online operators, which it considers unfair competition while the online gambling law is delayed in Congress. The good performance of the quarter reinforces the state operator's argument that the regulated segment has the capacity for growth and efficiency, in a debate that also occupies other Latin American markets such as Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia, where social lotteries coexist with digital platforms at different levels of formalization.
Tags: Chile, Polla Chilena, Chile lottery, iGaming financial results, LatAm lotteries