RALEIGH — An audit of the North Carolina Education Lottery shows the agency took in $1.5 billion in sales in fiscal 2012.

The State Auditor's office released its report Tuesday. It said the take for the previous fiscal years marked an increase of $135.6 million over 2011.

The report said the lottery's four cash transfers for the year reached $456.8 million, the largest transfer in the agency's history. For 2011, the cash transfer totaled $446.9 million.

According to the audit, the lottery awarded $1 million or more for the 110th time. It increased the number of retailers by 2.7 percent to 6,787. Also, the release of 49 new instant scratch-off games into the marketplace generated sales of $960 million.