Greek betting and lottery operator OPAP started 2018 on the right foot, posting gains in revenue, earnings and profit in the first quarter.

OPAP’s official figures show gross gaming revenue of €377m in the first three months of 2018, up 5.1% from the same period last year. Earnings increased 11.1% to €87m while net profit jumped one-fifth to €40m.

OPAP CEO Damian Cope credited the earnings and profit improvements to better cost controls, a lower effective corporate tax rate and a newly renegotiated commission rate with its retail partners.

A number of OPAP agents declined to sign the new contracts, leading to the number of OPAP shops in Greece falling from 4,367 at the end of 2017 to 3,836 by the end of Q1. OPAP says it expects this number to be back up over 4,000 by the end of 2018.