OPAP beats profit forecast
Greek betting firm OPAP reported an 18 percent rise in its first-quarter net profit on Tuesday, helped by the launch of new games and cost controls.
Europe’s second-biggest gambling firm by market value has been hit by a deep recession at home, which has dented Greeks’ appetite for gambling. But OPAP’s efforts to refresh its line-up of games and keep a lid on distribution costs are paying off.
OPAP said net profit came in at 58.7 million euros in the first three months of the year from 49.7 million euros in the same period a year ago.
The figure was above an average analysts’ forecast of 54.1 million euros in a Reuters poll.
Sales rose 16 percent to 1.1 billion euros, with the launch of a new scratchcard game last year boosting the figure by 112.6 million euros.
Revenues from its two flagship games Pame Stoichima and Kino also exceeded expectations, coming in at 406.3 and 506.3 million euros respectively.
The start of the planned roll-out of 16,500 videolotto machines in the country in the summer is expected to spur significant revenue growth for OPAP, which was fully privatized in 2013.
[Reuters]
