The Greek lottery operator OPAP SA has published its financial results for H1 of FY2021, revealing it has maintained steady growth in a period that saw fewer trading days due to COVID-19, owing to the full consolidation of the Stoiximan brand.
Total GGR came in at €570.2m, representing a 12.1% increase on the previous year with NGR also seeing an 11.5% hike.
This comes despite lottery sales, usually its primary source of business, collapsing by 27.4% since H1 2020 to €186.94m and VLT sales dropped significantly by 59.1% to €36.13m.
The lottery operations were halted due to lockdown periods earlier in the year as Greece battled to reduce the spread of coronavirus. This slowed down winter sales significantly in what is ordinarily a tough period.
These losses were offset by the full consolidation of the leading Greek sportsbook, Stoiximan.
The consolidation led to revenue increases from betting of 68.8% year-on-year to €213.96m, with Greek sports, alongside other top European sporting divisions, continuing throughout lockdown periods. For OPAP, Stoiximan’s operations and sportsbook brand awareness aided it through what would otherwise be a period of hardship.
Of significance, online casino sales rose by 5613.1.% up to €95.95m as OPAP leveraged Stoiximan’s capabilities in the online gaming sector.
This led to OPAP’s total EBITDA increasing by 99.8% from €102.5m to €204.8m, aided by the €100m income owing to a concession extension and the acquisition of Stoiximan assets.
As a result, the net profit for H1 totalled €82.1m, four times higher than that of H1 2020 which stood at €20.4m.
CEO Jan Karas commented on the financial position of the group: “Despite the COVID-19 restrictions still in place, we have successfully managed to attract customers back to our stores, thanks to our comprehensive commercial plan and constant focus on providing world-class gaming entertainment.
“This approach supports the recovery and sustainability of our partners’ business. At the same time, we continue to lead the online market on the back of our long-term dual strategy with our investment in Kaizen Gaming continuing to pay off, while further enhancing and differentiating our OPAP branded online offering.”
