OPAP profits down 72% following tax hit
New 30% GGR tax sends profit plummeting by almost three quarters but Greek monopoly buoyed by resurgent Q4
Greek monopoly OPAP saw its 2013 profits tumble by 72% to 141.1m following the country’s introduction of a 30% tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR).
EBITDA across the buisness fell 67.1% year-on-year to 221.7m following what OPAP CEO Kamil Ziegler labelled a “difficult year for the Greek economy”, with the amount paid by OPAP under the new tax regime revealed to be 345m.
Total revenues fell 6.6% to 3.7bn, with the operator’s sports betting revenues down 10.3% year-on-year to 1.3bn and numerical games down 4.3% to 2.4bn.
OPAP didn’t provide a breakdown of revenues derived from digital channels, but the operator did refer to the deal it recently signed with international gaming supplier GTECH to provide a new online sports betting platform.
The operator also noted that total Q4 2013 revenues of 1.07bn were up 4.3% year-on-year, which Ziegler marked as an “encouraging trend”.
“The addition of extra features in a variety of products in our portfolio, along with the stabilisation of consumer spending, led to an increase of revenues year-on-year, which is a positive indication for 2014,” Ziegler added.
GTECH CEO Marco Sala was revealed to have joined the OPAP board of directors in October of last year, sitting on the 12-strong board as a non-executive member.