Intralot announced strong 2011 full year results

EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) posted an increase reaching 153.8 million euros (from 152.7 million euros in 2010). EAT-am (Earnings After Taxes and after minorities) were shaped at 17.7 million euros from 36.6 million euros in 2010.

The company posted a positive cash flow during FY2011. The positive trend that has been set since the beginning of the year continued, with net debt dropping by 17.4 million euros compared to 12 months in 2010. The positive cash-flow is even more important taking into consideration that capex reached 75.3m for the year, while when guidance was provided for a positive cash flow in 2012, capex was estimated at 50 milion euros.

In 4Q2011 Revenues grew by 8.8%, to 345.9 million euros, EBITDA dropped by 2.7%, to 41.7 million euros, EBT posted a growth of 135.2%, reaching 24 million euros and Net profits reached 6.8 million euros.

 Revenues for the parent company decreased by 19.5%, to 131.7 million euros. EBITDA decreased by 20.1% to 19.4 millin euros from 24.2 million euros in 2010 and Earnings After Taxes (EAT) were 1.6 million euros from 2.1 million euros in 2010.

Commenting on FY2011 results Intralot Group CEO, Constantinos Antonopoulos, noted: “Last year we had provided a guidance for a positive cash-flow in 2011, a target that we exceeded as our goal was reached despite a higher new project capex. In 2012 onwards we will continue to focus on improving our cash-flow generation, but at the same time monitor and pursue new opportunities in the gaming space”. 

“Concerning 2012, we anticipate it to be a very interesting year as numerous new opportunities and developments are taking place in the sector. Starting with Europe, opportunities include the continuation of gaming markets opening, the most important case being Germany, which is anticipated to open its sports betting market within 2012. Bulgaria, one of our major markets, is expected to soon regulate Internet gaming, a move that should enhance our position in the country. Also, we are in a pleasant position to announce that our subsidiary in Malta has been announced the preferred bidder in the tender process that took place to renew its existing gaming license in the country,” he added.

He then pointed that in the United States, the legalization of Internet gaming, which is expected to include lottery games, poker and casino games is proceeding. “Regarding our existing business in the US, the recent combination of the Powerball and Megamillions jackpots is expected to strengthen our sales. It is worth noting that this week the Megamillions jackpot hit a new record, reaching us$ 500 million. In the southern region of the Americas, namely Latin America, numerous opportunities are expected to arise, especially in markets where Intralot is already present such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Jamaica”, he said.

Moving on to Asia Pacific region, several opportunities and challenges exist such as the legalization of games, which will be a major growth driving force in the next few years, especially for countries such as China and Vietnam. Other opportunities include the Philippines and Australia, while Taiwan will be up for rebid within the year.

Finally, in the Hellenic market opportunities include the procurement of the New Instant ticket and passive lottery tickets license, video-lotteries, Internet gaming, the privatization of OPAP and the Horse Racing organization.

Antonopoulos also said: “One of the major driving forces behind Intralot’s position in the global gaming sector is its leading innovation and technological sophistication. We are in a position to safely say that Intralot is well ahead of competition in terms of technology, posting an additional advantage, due to its innovativeness, of having low capex requirements for IT development and obtaining a high output”.

“Last year we announced pioneering products and services, among which Lottery TV, an integrated gaming solution on multimedia gaming content for lottery shops; the new HomeSmartPlay family of solutions, which gives players access at home to an extensive sporting catalogue; iGEM, the most modern platform for gaming machines; Racing for Lotteries, our innovative gaming approach for virtual and real races; Genion, our new multifunctional terminal and Nefos, Intralot’s cloud solution. Also, our Universal Gaming Platform, successfully combining the Land Based with the Interactive gaming, has been proven the best strategy for the lotteries to go online. Moreover, Intralot has moved to the creation of Gaming Clusters, starting from Corallia in Greece, that will be also established in various countries worldwide, aiming to introduce pioneering gaming content and new gaming technologies that will be offered to its clients,” he assured.

“Technological and other innovations are starting to pay off in our day-to-day business operations and, coupled with our world-class operational skills and know-how, are expected to help grow the business in the next few years and at the same time improve efficiencies,” Antonopoulos concluded.