Of the total revenue, around €373m, or 79.3%, came from the operator’s retail offerings, down from €380m in Q3 2020. Online, meanwhile, generated €97m, or 20.6% of total GGR, up from just €11m last year.
Lottery made up the lion’s share, bringing in €178.4m, down 0.4% from Q3 2020.
This was followed by betting at €141.4m, up 39.1%, VLTs at €84.4m, up 5.4%, and online casino, up from just €3.0m in Q3 2020 to €42.0m this quarter. Elsewhere, instant and passive games saw a reduction in GGR of 11.2%, bringing in €24.1m.
OPAP said the similar level of retail revenue compared to last year came as a result of Covid-19 related retail restrictions across Greece, while the steep increase in online revenue was aided by the full consolidation of Stoiximan, which the operator acquired and consolidated a majority stake in back in 2020.
After paying €146.5m in GGR contribution and other levies and duties, the operator was left with net gaming revenue (NGR) of €323.7m, up 24.7% against the same period of last year.
Agents commission fees cost the business €93.3m, with a further €28.7m in other NGR related commissions paid out. Other operating costs totalled €19.2m, while the business generated additional income of €57.9m related to the extension of the concession of the exclusive right to offer gaming, as well as €28.1m in other operating income.
Further operating expenses came to €93.6m, consisting of €20.2m in payroll expenses, €17.5m in marketing costs, and €55.6m in other operating expenses. After a further €189,000 in net impairment losses on financial assets, the business declared EBITDA of €175.0m at a margin of 37.2%, up from 26.9% in Q3 2020.
After a further €42.0m in losses related to depreciation, amortisation and impairment, OPAP showed results from operating activities of €133.1m, which after net finance costs of €9.6m resulted in a profit before tax of €123.5m, 80.5% ahead of Q3 2020.After paying €27.5m in income tax, the business declared a profit for the period of €96.0m, up 83.6% on the €52.3m profit declared in Q3 2020.
For the year-to-date, these figures brought total GGR to €1.04bn, up from €898.9m in the first nine months of 2020. Profit after tax for the year-to-date, meanwhile, more than doubled, from €70.4m in 2020 to €179.6m in 2021.
Excluding Stoiximan revenues, however, group revenue for the year-to-date was down 15.1% year-on-year, at €763.6m.
NGR was also down 12.4% to €521.3m, while profit before tax and net profit both more than doubled, coming in at €199.0m and €151.9m respectively, excluding Stoiximan operations.
“OPAP’s Q3 results affirm our ability to sustain a strong financial performance, while implementing key initiatives of our Fast Forward Strategy,” said OPAP CEO Jan Karas.
“Retail resilience and continuing online growth, clearly aided by Stoiximan’s contribution, were the key drivers. During the quarter, we tapped the benefits of our recently launched loyalty programme, which is key to further digitalising our offering.
“We are pleased to see the positive impact of our loyalty programme, which has been well received both by our customers and partners. In any case, we remain committed to delivering an even more entertaining customer experience across all our channels, so as to promote OPAP’s long-term growth,” Karas concluded.