OPAP lauds ‘product evolution’ as H1 nets €345m NGR high

OPAP’s growth trajectory continued into Q2, as the Greek gambling group reported a strong performance across its omni-channel business for the first half of the year.

Quarterly net gaming revenue stood at €345m, an increase of 13% on €304m in Q2 2022, driving a 13% growth in operating profit from games from €181m to €204m and EBITDA up 7% from €167m to €178m, although with a slightly lower margin of 36% (Q2 2022: 38%).

The Athens-listed group declared a quarter with net profit of €106m, an increase of 35% from €79m the year previously. The firm attributed this to growth in gross gaming revenue, which rose 13% to €498m (€442m), driven by an ‘outperformance’ for its online business and ‘significant contribution’ from retail.

Jan Karas, OPAP CEO, said: “The second quarter of 2023 was another quarter of positive performance for OPAP, characterised by strong profitability, the successful implementation of our strategic initiatives and the continued evolution of our customer proposition.

Year-to-date results show an impressive performance for OPAP across the full first six months of the year as H1 GGR rose 14% and NGR 15% to reach €1bn (€899m) and €708m (€617m) respectively.

Breaking down profit and margin, OPAP reported operating gaming profit from H1 up 14% to €423m (€370m), net profit up 34% to €224m (€167m) and EBITDA up 12% to €374m (€336m), with a slight increase in margin to 37% (36.5%).

A breakdown of the group’s product segments shows lotteries as the clear revenue leader although sports betting income was not far behind – the former rose 8% year-on-year in Q2 to €178m (€165m) and the latter by 14% to €152m (€134m).

On the other hand, online casino saw the steepest increase in revenue of 38% from €42m to €58m, whilst scratch lottery revenue was up 12% to €30m (€27m) and video lottery terminal (VLT) revenue rose 9% to €81m (€76m).

This trend was seen across the full six months of the year with revenue up 35% from 84m to 113m, and sports betting again saw a sharper revenue increase than lottery at 12% as opposed to 9%.

This translated to revenue of €321m (€286m) and €364m (€335m) respectively, whilst VLTs recorded an increase of 15% from €144m to €165m and scratch lotteries were up 20% from €50m to €60m.

On OPAP’s product mix, Karas added: “As far as our Retail network is concerned, in the second quarter of 2023 our renewed offer for Pame Bet stood out, as well as the launch of Free Win, the first free game of our agencies, available through the OPAP Store App. 

“In the online channel, we successfully presented Opaponline.gr, our online proposition in number games, and continued to strengthen our position in all product categories.

“We are also confident that OPAP is well positioned to achieve its financial goals and strategic priorities for the rest of the year in a sustainable and accountable manner for all stakeholders.”