Damian Cope

OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting business, said it had seen almost all its revenue wiped out by the closure of its outlets due to a coronavirus lockdown in Greece and Cyprus.

OPAP, Europe's fourth-largest betting firm by revenue, has frozen the roll-out of video-lottery terminals in Greece until the country settles a "procedural" regulatory issue, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Greek gambling giant OPAP recorded an increase in its revenues and profits in the first half of the year, its second-quarter financial figures showed on Wednesday, thanks both to betting on the soccer World Cup and the introduction of video lottery terminals (VLTs) in the Greek market.

OPAP, Europe's fifth biggest gaming firm, said on Wednesday it is keeping to plans to have a total of 10,000 video lottery machines (VLTs) rolled out by the end of the year.

OPAP launched the new product, which is expected to be its main growth driver, earlier this year.

Greece-based OPAP said the adverse impact from a draft government bill cutting the number of video lottery machines (VLTs) allowed to operate in the country will be offset by a plan to extend its betting license. "The revised terms will have a neutral effect for OPAP," Damian Cope, the company's chief executive officer, told a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

Greece's OPAP, Europe's fourth-biggest betting firm, will conclude the roll-out of a new business of video lottery terminals (VLTs) next year, it said on Thursday.

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.