April 03, 2014

OPAP announces profit plunge

Greek gambling firm OPAP announced a collapse in net profits of 72.1 percent, to €141.1m in 2013, which it attributed to the introduction of a new 30 percent gross gaming revenue tax in the country. Full-year revenue fell 6.6 percent from €4bn in 2012 to €3.7bn in the last 12 months, while gross gaming revenue dropped 6.3 percent to €1.2bn.

Rounding out a disastrous year, EBITDA fell 67.1 percent, from €673.8m to €221.7m in 2013.

OPAP's fourth fourth-quarter performance was equally as bleak, with net profit reaching just €29.4m, 77.6 percent lower than the €133.8m achieved in the corresponding period last year.

Kamil Ziegler, chairman and chief executive officer of OPAP, said that despite the disappointing overall performance, the firm’s results in Q4 were “encouraging” and is keen to push for further improvements in 2014.

“Within an overall difficult year for the Greek economy, OPAP’s financial results of the fourth quarter mark an encouraging trend,” Ziegler said.

“The addition of extra features in a variety of products in our portfolio, along with the stabilisation of consumer spending, led to an increase of revenues year-on-year, which is a positive indication for 2014.

“It is important to note that 2013 was the first year that a 30% gross gaming revenue tax was applied, which in terms of OPAP’s numbers translates into a yield of € 345 million for the Greek state.

“We remain focused on the improvement of OPAP’s operational efficiency as well as on the modernisation of our product portfolio, towards the benefit of all our stakeholders: customers, agents, shareholders and the Greek state and society as a whole.”

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