OPAP

It may sound paradoxical, but it took a particularly quiet session at the Greek stock market for the benchmark to top 650 points on Monday, after days of trying. Trading volume was the second lowest so far this year, with some observers attributing it to the planned bond offer by OPAP that may shift some investors' attention away from the bourse.

London-based gaming services provider Betgenius will supply Greece-based OPAP, Europe's fourth biggest betting firm, with a new sportsbook platform, OPAP said on Wednesday.

Betgenius will also become OPAP's primary provider of in-play data, delivering fully automated, real-time data for around 130,000 sports events annually for the next two years.

Early gains evaporated for the majority of stocks on the Greek bourse on Wednesday, which ended with a small decline for the benchmark and slightly increased trading volume.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 635.74 points, shedding 0.07 percent from Tuesday's 636.19 points.

The European Commission has sent a letter to the government asking it not to implement a new regulation on the operation of video lottery terminals (VLTs), which OPAP has undertaken.

OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting firm, will launch video lottery terminals (VLTs) from the end of the first quarter next year, it said on Wednesday.

OPAP's profitability has been sapped in recent years by an austerity tax Greece imposed on its revenue to bolster state finances under the terms of international bailouts.

OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting firm, on Tuesday posted a 40 percent drop in third-quarter net profit, hurt by an austerity tax increase on its revenue.

Net profit came in at 29.3 million euros, down from 49.1 million euros in the same period a year ago.

[Reuters]

OPAP will revive plans to launch a video lottery terminals (VLTs) business, Europe's third largest betting firm said on Wednesday, after Greece's gaming commission approved new rules.

OPAP had planned to launch video lottery machines last year but halted the project after Greece introduced tougher betting rules.

Fears of complications in Greece's second bailout review and further tremors in the runup to the US elections weighed on the majority of Greek stocks on Tuesday, with the benchmark giving up close to 1.5 percent.

Non-bank blue chips including Lamda Development, OTE and OPAP buoyed the benchmark of the Greek stock market on Wednesday, which only posted marginal gains despite the increase in trading volume. While a fourth consecutive session of decline was averted, it appears that reaping gains from the bourse in the medium term will demand patience.

Greece's biggest betting company OPAP, will pay an extra 70 million to 75 million euros in tax this year under new laws on gross gaming revenues, Chief Executive Kamil Ziegler said on Monday.

The former state monopoly, majority-owned and managed by a Greek-Czech fund since 2013, paid more than 600 million euros in taxes last year.