Greek gambling monopoly OPAP has cited the introduction of a new gross gaming revenue tax in the country as the reason behind a significant drop in net profit during the 12 months to December 31, 2013.The new 30% tax on gross gaming revenue for companies in Greece meant OPAP’s net profit totalled just €141.1 million ($194.7 million) in 2013, a 72.1% drop on the €505.5 million achieved in the previous year.
Full-year revenue also fell 6.6% from €4 billion in 2012 to €3.7 billion in the last 12 months, while gross gaming revenue dropped 6.3% to €1.2 billion.
Elsewhere, EBITDA fell 67.1% from €673.8 million in the previous year to €221.7 million in 2013.
OPAP was also not helped by its fourth-quarter performance, in which it recorded a net profit of just €29.4 million, 77.6% lower than the €133.8 million achieved in the corresponding period last year.
While EBITDA also dropped 72.7% to €47.6 million in the quarter, OPAP was able to record a 4.3% increase in revenue to €1.1 billion.
Kamil Ziegler, chairman and chief executive officer of OPAP, said that despite the disappointing overall performance, the firm’s results in Q4 were “encouraging” and is keen to push for further improvements in 2014.
“Within an overall difficult year for the Greek economy, OPAP’s financial results of the fourth quarter mark an encouraging trend,” Ziegler said.
“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.
“It is important to note that 2013 was the first year that a 30% gross gaming revenue tax was applied, which in terms of OPAP’s numbers translates into a yield of € 345 million for the Greek state.
“We remain focused on the improvement of OPAP’s operational efficiency as well as on the modernisation of our product portfolio, towards the benefit of all our stakeholders: customers, agents, shareholders and the Greek state and society as a whole.”
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
