OPAP profits fall one-third on costs of new product rollouts

Greek betting and lottery operator OPAP saw its net profit fall by more than one-third in the second quarter of 2017 as revenue declined and the cost of marketing new product rose.

Figures released Wednesday show OPAP’s revenue hitting €330m in the three months ending June 30, 2.5% below the sum generated in same period last year. Earnings were down nearly 24% to €52m and net profit tumbled 33.7% to €22m.

OPAP CEO Damian Cope said the company’s results were “commendable” given the tough comparison with Q2 2016, which contained the majority of the Euro 2016 football tournament.

Total betting revenue was down only 1.2% to €93.2m, as the Euro 2016 impact was partially offset by the launch of new virtual games product in April. Lottery revenue was down 8.4% to €190m due to unfavorable jackpot rollovers in OPAP’s Joker product.