OPAP

The Greek bourse benchmark climbed on Friday to highs unseen since late February after its 11th consecutive day of gains, which were quite handsome too, on the day the third-quarter growth data were issued. Likewise, the Greek benchmark 10-year bond yield reached a new low on Friday, at 0.626 percentage points.

OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting business, reported a 38% drop in first-quarter profit on Wednesday due to the closure of outlets during the coronavirus lockdown in Greece and Cyprus.

Net profit in the January to March period stood at 35.5 million euros ($40.3 million), down from 57.2 million in the same period a year before.

OPAP, Europe's fourth largest gaming company, has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in the fast-growing Greek and Cypriot business of online bookmaker Stoiximan, it said on Tuesday.
OPAP, which already holds a 36.8 percent stake in Stoiximan's online operations in Portugal, Romania and Germany, has agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in Stoiximan's Greek and Cypriot operations.

OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting business, said it had seen almost all its revenue wiped out by the closure of its outlets due to a coronavirus lockdown in Greece and Cyprus.

A number of Athens-listed companies are planning to take part in a new wave of bond issues, aiming to make the most of the favorable climate in the market and the improvement in investor confidence in Greece.

Stocks suffered a day of losses at the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday, with just a handful of sessions left till the end of the year for traders to complete their window dressing, but the benchmark didn't lose all its weekly gains, posting an increase of 0.11 percent compared to the previous Friday.

The government wants to see swift changes in the distorted market of online games of chance in Greece. Through the investment incentives bill tabled in Parliament, it will also try to legalize the existing market that was to a great extent deemed unconstitutional by the Council of State.

The Hellenic Capital Market Commission on Monday approved a bid by Czech-based Sazka Group to take full control of gaming firm OPAP.
Greece sold a 33 percent stake in OPAP to Emma Delta, currently owned by Sazka Group and Georgios Melissanidis, in 2013 for about 650 million euros as part of an international bailout.

The market of games of chance is entering a new era after a decision by the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, which invalidates the license that gaming giant OPAP had to provide online sports betting.

Greek punters staked over 16 billion euros on legal games of chance last year.

According to figures compiled by the Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP), Greeks bet 13.2 billion on all legal games to leave gross gaming revenues of 2.1 billion euros to the suppliers, while at least another 3 billion euros was gambled on video lottery terminals (VLTs), which EEEP has not accounted for.