Licence granted to operate online sports betting games in France
INTRALOT Group announced financial results for the nine-month period ending September 30th 2010.
Highlights include:
– Q3/2010 revenue reached Euro 256.8 million, posting a 33.4 percent year-on-year increase leading the 9 month revenues to Euro 797.7 million.
– In the same period EBITDA reached Euro 39.0 million, slightly below (-2.1 percent year-on-year) Q3/2009, shaping the EBITDA for the 9-month period at Euro 109.8 million.
– In Q3/2010 EBITDA margin posted an improvement, reaching 15.2 percent, pulling the 9M/2010 margin to 13.8 percent compared to 13.2 percent in the 6M/2010 period.
– Net profit was shaped at Euro 11.7 million (a drop of 25.8% year-on-year) mainly due to higher depreciation charges and a higher tax rate of 19.2 percent in Q3/2010 vs. 16.6 percent in Q3/2009.
– Net Profit for the 9-month 2010 reached Euro 37 million.
Concerning the Parent Company:
– Revenues remained at the levels of 9M/09, by reaching Euro 118.1 million in 9M/2010.
– EBITDA increased to Euro 32.5 million and Earnings After Taxes (EAT) increased by 77.5 percent reaching Euro 27.1 million in 9M/2010.
INTRALOT Group CEO, Constantinos Antonopoulos notes:
"Regarding our Group’s Q3/2010 results we are pleased to announce a robust growth of our revenues by more than 33 percent as compared to the same period last year and an almost flat EBITDA, despite the unfavorable comparison with last year due to the increase of the gaming tax in Bulgaria that took place in the beginning of 2010 and recession effects in a number of the markets that we operate. Net profits were weaker mainly due to higher depreciation charges and a higher group tax rate. Gross profits were positively affected from an improved payout in our betting operations.
"Important developments of the past quarter include the starting of new projects in three US States in only four days, which set a new record in the industry and revealed the great operational expertise of INTRALOT, as well as the start ups in Morocco and Brazil. In addition, the Group is currently deploying VLTs in the Italian market, a process that is expected to be completed within the first half of 2011. Moreover, the most recent contract in the US, in the Nation’s capital, Washington D.C., became successfully operational within the previous week. Finally, the Group has been granted a license to operate online sports betting games in France, where we plan to also apply for online horse betting and poker licenses. Therefore, we will have a full range of games to be offered on both a B2B and B2C basis.
"INTRALOT’s existing portfolio of projects in more than 50 countries is one of our most significant assets. We believe that existing operations have ample room for improvement and expansion; therefore we will focus on new game content and marketing strategies to explore new business opportunities for our clients and our own operations. Moreover, the Company is evaluating some non-performing projects, the discontinuation of which will release resources.
"In the near future several opportunities of considerable size are expected to arise in different regions: in Europe the regulated opening of the markets has a strong momentum. Many opportunities are expected to arise in the US, where private management contracts or so-called PPP projects (Private Public Partnerships), are expected to emerge."