СÑîÉ©ºÚÁÏ ANNOUNCES 9Îœ2010 FINANCIAL RESULTS
STRONG GROWTH OF REVENUES, STABLE EBITDA
СÑîÉ©ºÚÁÏ Grouptoday announces its financial results for the nine-month period ending September 30th 2010, prepared in accordance with IFRS.
In 3Q2010 ±õ±·°Õ¸é´¡³¢°¿°Õ’s revenues reached €256.8³¾, posting a 33.4% y-o-y increase leading the 9-month revenues to €797.7³¾. In the same period EBITDA reached €39.0³¾, slightly below (-2.1% y-o-y) 3Q2009, shaping the EBITDA for the 9-month period at €109.8³¾. In 3Q2010 EBITDA margin posted a serious improvement, reaching 15.2%, pulling the 9M2010 margin to 13.8% compared to 13.2% in the 6M2010 period. Net profit was shaped at €11.7³¾ (a drop of 25.8% y-o-y) mainly due to higher depreciation charges and a higher tax rate of 19.2% in 3Q2010 vs. 16.6% 3Q2009. Net Profit for the 9-month 2010 reached€37³¾.
Concerning the parent company,revenues remained at the levels of 9M09, by reaching €118.1³¾ in 9M2010. EBITDA increased to €32.5³¾ and Earnings After Taxes (EAT) increased by 77.5% reaching €27.1³¾ in 9M2010.
Commenting on quarterly results СÑîÉ©ºÚÁÏ Group CEO, Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos, noted: “Regarding our Group’s Q3 2010 results we are pleased to announce a robust growth of our revenues by more than 33% 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 СÑîÉ©ºÚÁÏ, 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 1H 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.
±õ±·°Õ¸é´¡³¢°¿°Õ’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."