In Brief
OPAP’s 2006 profit grows by 11.2 percent Gaming monopoly OPAP reported a 11.2 percent rise in its net profit yesterday as bumper revenues from sports betting more than offset increased payout to winners. Europe’s biggest betting firm said net profit last year rose to -509.8 million, which compared with an average forecast of -511.3 million given by 11 analysts in a Reuters poll. Net profit in the fourth quarter came in at 154.4 million euros, which compared with an average forecast of -155.87 million. «We are very satisfied with strong performance of our major games Pame Stoichima and Kino,» OPAP’s managing director, Vassilis Neiadas, said in a statement. «Further development of our business remains the management’s target.» OPAP said it will propose a dividend for 2006 of -1.58 a share, up from the -1.42 paid last time. The group said sales rose 25.4 percent to -4.63 billion last year as revenues from flagship fixed-odds sports betting game Pame Stoichima increased 58.7 percent to -2.283 billion thanks to increased betting during the World Cup soccer tournament last summer. (Reuters) Greek January current account gap widens Greece’s current account deficit widened in January, mainly due to an increase in the trade deficit, the result in part of increased costs for ship purchases and other goods, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. The country’s current account gap widened by -582 million year-on-year to reach -2.804 billion in January. «In January the current account balance showed a deficit of -2,804 million, -582 million higher than in January 2006. This development reflects the widening mainly of the trade deficit and secondarily of the income account deficit, which was not offset by a small increase in the surpluses of the services balance and the current transfers balance.» (Reuters) Korres Natural beauty products retailer Korres, which will go public next week, expects to list on the Athens bourse in early April, the firm said yesterday. In a presentation to reporters, Korres said its IPO will run March 27-29. It expects to raise about -12 million to boost expansion abroad and pay down debt. Korres, which started as a single homeopathic pharmacy in Athens, now sells natural beauty products through 6,250 points of sale in Greece and abroad. (Reuters) Forthnet loss Internet service provider and telecoms operator Forthnet’s full-year loss widened in 2006 as the company increased investment on infrastructure to expand its market share, it said yesterday. Losses for the year widened to -16.7 million from a loss of -1.1 million in 2005, the company said in a statement on its website. Revenues last year rose 7 percent to -97.6 million, while EBITDA swung to a loss of -5 million from a profit of -13.5 million in 2005. (Reuters) P&K purchase completed The National Bank of Greece completed yesterday the acquisition of the P&K stockbrokerage firm, which along with NBG’s own firm are forming Greece’s biggest stockbrokerage and investment company, ahead of EFG Eurobank’s.
