Greek gambling monopoly reports revenue increase

The gaming operator OPAP reported a 6.3% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2018.

Greece.- OPAP, the Greek gambling monopoly, has reported a good financial performance in 2018, led by video lottery terminals (VLTs) and KINO lottery game. The company posted a 6.3% year-on-year increase in revenue in 2018.

The Greek operator detailed that gross gaming revenue (GGR) for full 2018 totalled €1.55 billion, up from the €1.46 billion registered during the previous year. VLTs’ performance was one of the highlights for the company’s financial results, as the vertical reached €68.4 million during the fourth quarter and €208.7 million in 2018, which is a 262.6% increase from the 2017 total.

KINO also helped OPAP register good results, especially because of its fourth quarter performance and despite the fact that overall lottery revenue reported a 4.7% year-on-year decrease to €779 million. Betting and instant operations also registered year-on-year declines.

Furthermore, the company reported a higher spend on expenses, but this didn’t stop profits from increasing from €131.5 million in 2017 to €145.3 million in 2018. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment was €353.6 million, up from the €306.5 million from 2017. Profit before tax increased from €193.1 million to €215.9 million.

OPAP CEO Damian Cope said that the company delivered on all key business goals: “We are now operating over 350 dedicated Gaming Halls and remain on track to install all 25,000 machines by the end of 2019 as planned. Online we re-launched OPAP’s own sportsbook and we also made a strategically important investment in Stoiximan Group, and via both paths we believe we will be able to rapidly grow our presence online,” he said.