OPAP Q3 revenue up 7% as CEO hails operator’s “ongoing transformation”
Operator highlights strong VLT growth ahead of culmination of 2020 strategy
Greek operator OPAP has revealed a 6.7% year-on-year rise in gross gaming revenue for Q3 2019, with revenues hitting €393.6m (£335.7m).
Total amounts wagered rose 3.5% year-on-year during the quarter to €1,081.9m (£922.9m) from a previous Q3 2018 high of €1,045.2m. The operator’s net gaming revenues rose 7.1% YoY during the same period to €265.1m.
OPAP’s gross profits rose 6.3% during Q3 to €154.7m, while its net profits rose by 24.5% to €48.8m.
Company EBITDA increased 16.5% during the same period to €101.6m, with company operating expenditure dropping by 5.2% to €62.2m.
As in previous quarters, the bulk of OPAP’s increased revenue during the period came from its video lottery terminal operations, where revenues rose by 43.2% year-on-year to €72.7m.
Revenues from the group’s lottery business rose more modestly during Q3, increasing 4.1% to €197.3m, while group revenues from sports betting fell 5.7% year-on-year to €91.8m.
The group’s so-called instant and passives business reported a revenue rise of 1.8% year-on-year during the third quarter of 2019, with revenues growing to €31.5m.
OPAP CEO Damian Cope said the results provided further evidence of the “positive growth” being delivered by the business thanks to its investments and the work of its employees over the period.
“With both revenues and profitability once again showing good growth over 2018 I believe that OPAP continues to demonstrate the sustained benefits of the company’s ongoing transformation,” Cope added.
Cope highlighted the end of the year as marking the culmination of OPAP’s ‘2020 Vision’ ambition, in which the company aims to become a world-class gaming company, via eight strategic priorities.
The priorities include customer interaction, development of staff, investment in the business, increased community engagement, brand power and the building of relationships with external regulators.
“Until then we will be focused on successfully delivering for the remainder of 2019 and in this regard we are confident in meeting our full year expectations,” Cope added.