Intralot lottery sales dominate as 2021 sees profit returns

Intralot SA’s lottery division was once again its biggest contributor to top-line revenues in 2021, delivering 61.2% of corporate turnover last year
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Intralot SA’s lottery division was once again its biggest contributor to top-line revenues in 2021, delivering 61.2% of corporate turnover last year. 

The Athens-listed firm labelled last year as a key period for its business as it completed a capital structure reorganisation, providing significant financial uplift, above previous expectations.

Publishing its FY2021 financial statements, Intralot reported a group underlying EBITDA of €110m an increase of 67% on FY2020’s results of €66m.

Group revenues also jumped by 20% in FY2021 as corporate revenues reached €414m, despite COVID-19 disruptions to the first half of year trading.

As aforementioned, lottery sales made up 61.2% of full-year revenues, with VLTs also contributing a further 9.1% of total turnover. 

The firm’s lottery operations were boosted during 2021 by the extension of its current contract of Intralot Maroc with La Marocaine Des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS) for one additional year until December 2023 and a five-year extension of its contract with the Wyoming Lottery Corporation until August 2029

Signalled as a key market, Intralot’s US business division provided the business its biggest Technical Support Services revenue contribution of €16.6m from North American lottery provisions and merchandise. This represents an 18.7% increase year-on-year and offsets lower merchandise sales and the effect of the adverse USD movement compared to the Euro.

Generating €3.3m in revenues, Intralot noted a better than expected performance for its newly-established INC B2B managed contracts in Montana and Washington.  

Intralot in Malta provided sales growth of 23.1%, with the firm noting that it was primarily attributable to the recovery from the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, in LatAm, Intralot’s Argentinian division performed robustly, with revenues increasing by 68.9% YoY driven by a strong recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns and positive market movements in the country. 

FY2021 expenses totalled €101m, which included a Turkish D&A expense of €7m attributed to costs of renewing its Turkish Bilyoner contract until 2029.

Positive FY2021 outcomes saw Intralot turn a profit of €37m, compared to FY2020 losses of €92m. Gross corporate debt has been further reduced to €600m, down from FY2020 debt of €750m.

Chairman & CEO Sokratis P Kokkalis commented on financial results: “The successful completion of the Capital Structure optimization in August 2021, resulting in the extension of the 2021 maturities and the significant deleverage by €163m has been a key milestone for Intralot.

“It has provided us the runway to address significant opportunities in the US and worldwide in the coming years in the Lottery, Sports Betting and Monitoring areas. Coupled with a strong rebound in key markets after the easing of COVID-19 pandemic measures and cost-efficiencies achieved at HQ level, FY2021 results set the Company on a stable course to tap on new opportunities and create value for all its stakeholders.”