As pandemic restrictions were lifted in various jurisdictions throughout 2021, Intralot’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) experienced a healthy rebound.

Coupled with ongoing expansion efforts in the US and elsewhere, the company’s GGR grew to €335.3m, up 17.5% from 2020’s €285.4m. Intralot attributed this growth firstly to an increase in non-payout related GGR. This amounted to €285.7m for a 16% year-on-year rise.

The company said this growth was driven primarily by “the increased top-line contribution” of its US operations and “the better performance of Bilyoner and Morocco,” as well “improved performance across most key regions.”

Secondly, Intralot’s payout-related GGR, revenue from the company’s licensed operations, came to €49.6m, up nearly 27% from 2020’s €39.1m. This, it said, was driven primarily by the impact of Covid-19 in 2020.

While revenue rose on a full-year basis, so too did operating expenses. These ended 2021 at €101.6m, up 10% from full year 2020 when operating expenses amounted to €92.4m.

Nevertheless, EBITDA was also up, coming in at €110.4m, an almost 67% increase over 2020’s €66.2m.

“The successful completion of the capital structure optimisation in August 2021, resulting in the extension of the 2021 maturities and the significant deleverage by €163m has been a key milestone for Intralot, providing us the runway to address significant opportunities in the US and worldwide in the coming years in the lottery, sports betting and monitoring areas,” said Intralot Chairman and CEO Sokratis P. Kokkalis.