OPAP CFO to step down
The chief financial officer (CFO) of the Greek company OPAP will step down by September 2019.
Greece.- OPAP, the company from Greece that is also the fourth-largest betting firm in Europe by revenue, announced on Tuesday that its chief financial officer (CFO) will step down by the end of September.
Despite the announcement, the company did not disclose too many details and said that the CFO Michal Houst will leave OPAP in September to pursue other opportunities. It is unclear if the CFO will continue his career in the gambling industry.
Michal Houst joined OPAP in 2013 after Greece sold a minority stake to a Czech-Greek fund. OPAP said the process for appointing Houst’s successor was ongoing and it would provide further details in the near future.
OPAP posts strong performance in 1Q19
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the period ended March 31 was €396 million, an increase of 5% when compared to the €377.3 million registered during the same period last year. Lottery is still OPAP’s biggest revenue source, with an increase of 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter to €191.7 million. This is also a 48.4% of the total revenue that the company registered in that period.
Despite lottery maintaining its position as top revenue scorer within the company, revenue from VLTs increased 58.9% to €68.9 million. The total share of revenue jumped from 11.5% in 2018 to 17.4% in 2019. On the other hand, the betting sector of the company posted a 5.3% decrease to €101.7 million. Instant and passives revenue was also down 10.8% to €33.7 million.
OPAP said that these results were achieved thanks to lower overall costs in the first quarter. OPAP cut costs by almost 5% from €67.4 million in the first quarter of last year to €64.1 million in the same period this year. The reduction in IT costs offset a 10.1% rise in payroll expenses, mainly because of an increased staff headcount.
