Greek gambling monopoly reports a positive first quarter

The Greek OPAP company, which has a contentious state monopoly in the country’s gambling industry, has posted a positive Q1 2009, with revenues and net profits both up.
Revenues in the period grew 6 percent over Q1 2008 to Euro 1.46 billion, whilst net profit year-on-year rose 3.5 percent to Euros 215.7 million. The company reported EBITDA down .09 percent at Euros 299.5 million as a result of higher distribution costs. Declining Stihima revenues re sulted in a fall in sportsbetting revenues of 8.4 percent.
Christos D. Hadjiemmanuil, OPAP’s chairman and chief executive, commented: “The weakness in our Q1 sports betting results relative to the same period in 2008 is explicable by a very dissimilar seasonal pattern of sports events; we expect a partial correction in April and May.
“Moreover, the rejuvenation of our numerical games has contributed to their improved performance in the early months of the year, making us optimistic that we will achieve our profitability target for 2009,” he added.

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