Monday November 24, 04:10 PM
UPDATE 1-Greece's OPAP Q3 up 46 pct, beats forecasts
ATHENS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - OPAP (Berlin: GF8.BE - news) , Europe's biggest betting firm, on Monday posted a better-than-expected 46 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, thanks to lower payouts and reduced operating expenses.
The Greek gaming monopoly said net profit rose to 163.8 million euros ($206.3 million), compared with an average forecast of 143 million euros in a recent Reuters poll of analysts.
Operating cost containment and lower payouts to winners of its fixed-odds sports betting game Stihima boosted the company's bottom line, which had been burdened in the third quarter of last year by a one-off 25 million euro donation to victims of Greece's wildfires.
Excluding that cost in 2007, OPAP's net profit grew 25.2 percent this year.
'Our healthy balance sheet and net cash position provide us with the required flexibility to explore new investment opportunities outside our core Greek business,' Chief Executive Christos Hadjiemmanuil said in a statement.
OPAP has already expressed interest in Turkish national lottery Milli Piyango, which is being privatised. It said it had not yet decided whether it would proceed with a bid as part of a consortium.
Revenue rose 4.2 percent to 1.21 billion euros, with Stihima sales down 10.8 percent to 429.9 million on reduced sports betting activity after the European Soccer Cup last summer.
Flagship lottery Kino sales, which account for about half of OPAP's total turnover, came in at 688 million euros, up 17.7 percent year-on-year, after the lottery sped up coupon processing by leasing more terminals late last year.
OPAP said it will pay an interim dividend of 0.80 euro per share for the nine months to end-September versus 0.60 euro for the same period last year.
OPAP shares trade around 8 times 2008 estimated earnings, compared with 5.5 for British bookmaker Ladbrokes (LSE: LAD.L - news) and 4.0 for William Hill (LSE: WMH.L - news) , according to Reuters Estimates.
The stock is down 33.3 percent since the start of the year, compared with a 64 percent drop in the broader Greek market . It closed up 2.19 percent at 18.7 euros on Monday, before the results were announced.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Erica Billingham) ($1=.7940 Euro) Keywords: OPAP RESULTS/
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
