ECONOMY

KINO boosts OPAP profits ahead of another floatation

State gaming company OPAP posted net profits of 120.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2005, according to International Financial Reporting Standards, showing a 38.2 percent rise from the 87.5 million euros achieved over the same period in 2004. To make the two periods’ figures comparable, the firm has not included the reversed provision of 148 million euros for Q1 of 2004, regarding the arbitration with Intralot, as appears in the group results for the first three months of last year. Were this provision to be taken into account, OPAP’s profits would show a drop of 34.2 percent from last year. Profits were calculated with tax at 32 percent as opposed to 35 percent in 2004. Operating expenses rose by 26.7 percent, as the OPAP board recently announced, reaching 880.8 million euros from 695.2 million euros last year. Daily revenues per agent from OPAP’s new game, KINO, were 940 euros in average in Q1; the same amount emerges for April as well. The company believes it is too early to assess whether this amount can be sustained in the long term. Swiss bank UBS, in its report on OPAP last Tuesday, notes its third floatation is expected in July, with 15 percent of the firm’s shares up for sale.

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