Greek giant OPAP’s net profits climbs 64% in third quarter

Greece-based giant OPAP has announced an impressive 64% climb in net profit during the July to September period, mainly driven by the launch of video lottery terminals.

The betting firm posted net profits of $56.6m during the third quarter, rising strongly from the $34m recorded in the same period last year.

OPAP is Europe’s fourth biggest betting firm, and offers sports betting and lottery services in more than 5,700 shops around Greece and Cyprus via revenue-sharing agents. The firm said this successful quarter was due to the reversal of litigation provisions, improving Q3 profit by almost $18m.

In addition, OPAP stated its current 5,297 video lottery terminals were a key factor in boosting quarterly results. With this high number of terminals, the Greek giant was able to record a 12% hike in gross revenues, to $421m in third quarter 2017.

The penultimate financial update of the year comes shortly after the parliament of Greece passed a new law to limit the number of betting terminals with the aim to reduce public exposure to gambling.

New legislation would lower the number of video lottery terminals allowed in the country by 10,000; however, OPAP has said it expects no further impact from the new law.

Back in 2012, OPAP was running as a public company and the government extended its monopoly by granting the right to manage the current 35,000 video lottery terminals until 2022. This plan was later approved by the European Commission. Later in 2013, due to regulatory challenges, the company was fully privatised and with this new law, OPAP has extended its licence by eight years.