Intralot upbeat on winning Spor Toto
Intralot SA, the world’s second-largest gaming-services provider, is «optimistic» about winning a 10-year contract to run Turkish sports-betting game Iddaa, Chief Executive Officer Constantinos Antono-poulos said. Inteltek, the Turkish unit of Athens-based Intralot, in February signed a one-year interim contract to operate Iddaa for Spor Toto, Turkey’s state gaming authority. Inteltek, a venture between Intralot and Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, said it controls about 40 percent of the country’s gaming market. «We are very optimistic,» Antonopoulos said in an interview in London yesterday. «In the 15 years we have been in this business, we’ve never lost a client. And we don’t want to lose it,» he said. Intralot will also bid for Turkey’s state-owned national lottery, he added. Intralot has a market value of -1.77 billion. The gaming company, which is scheduled to announce full-year results by the end of this month, forecast 2007 profit of 115 million euros on sales of about -880 million. Profit in the first nine months rose 4.2 percent to -85.5 million, Intralot said November 21. The results «will be in line with our forecasts,» the executive said, adding that the final dividend will be similar to last year, when Intralot paid 18 cents a share. Since the beginning of the year, Intralot has won new gaming contracts in South Carolina, its fifth US contract, and Poland and Turkey. It hopes to expand in China and begin operating in Vietnam, Antono-poulos said. Intralot employs more than 4,000 people and runs lotteries and supplies gaming technology to 40 countries. Intralot’s revenue trails Lottomatica SpA, which manages Italy’s national lottery.
