OPAP revenues down 15%
Net profit drops 6.7% in 2011 " announces biggest dividend cut in a decade.
Strict austerity measures, national wage cuts and a fall in gambling activity has seen Greek monopoly operator OPAP’s revenues plummet 15.2% year-on-year, it announced in its financial results for the year ended 31 December alongside its biggest dividend cut in a decade.
The 700m revenue decline, from 5.1bn to 4.4bn, was accompanied by a 6.7% fall in net profit to 537.5m, compared to 575.8m in FY 2010. However this decline reaches 19.5% when accounting for a one-off tax charge of 91.9m in 2010. Revenues for the fourth quarter fell 7.9% to 1.16bn while gross gaming revenue of 382.6m represented a 5.2% year-on-year decline.
The dividend payout, 40% of the company’s profit, is part of its strategy to save money ahead of a windfall tax expected to weigh on 2012 earnings. The company, 34% owned by the Greek government, also wants to use the retained earnings to fund its expansion into video lottery and online gambling. The Greek government plans to launch a tender to sell a 29% stake before elections in May.
Chairman and chief executive Ioannis Spanoudakis said: “In 2012 our major objectives are to implement the VLTs strategy, to prepare OPAP’s participation in the online market following the appropriate regulatory steps and to continue pursuing the Hellenic Lotteries licence.”
An OPAP-led consortium, also comprising Lottomatica, Intralot and Scientific Games, is one of three bidders for the Hellenic Lotteries licence, the tender process of which entered its second phase earlier this month.
Last November saw the operator gain shareholder approval for a 10-year extension of its monopoly with the Greek government.