INTRALOT SA., the leading international gaming company, today announces its financial results for the three-month period ending March 31st 2007, prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Consolidated Revenues for the period reached Euro 179.8m and remained at the levels of 1Q06. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) increased by 3.2% to Euro 74.1m, compared to the same period last year. Earnings Before Taxes (EBT) recorded an increase of 3% y-o-y by reaching Euro 67.6m compared to Euro 65.6m in 1Q06. Earnings After Taxes and after minorities (EAT-am) increased by 42.4% y-o-y to Euro 34.1m from Euro 24m in 1Q06.
Total International Revenues for the Intralot Group amounted to Euro 150.6m, or 83.8% of total Group sales, compared with Euro 137m of total Group sales in 1Q06, posting an increase of 10%.
Revenues for the parent company were Euro 40.4m in 1Q07, 2.1% lower y-o-y (1Q06: Euro 41,3m). Earnings Before Taxes (EBT) almost doubled and reached Euro 30.9m in 1Q07, posting a 92.6% y-o-y increase. Earnings After Taxes (EAT) reached Euro 27.2m in 1Q07, posting a 176.7% y-o-y increase (1Q06: Euro 9.8m).
Commenting on 1Q07 results INTRALOT's CEO, Mr, Constantinos Antonopoulos, noted: "We are very satisfied with 1Q07 results, since INTRALOT managed to maintain on a year-on-year basis its revenue levels and achieve strong growth of net profits, despite the expiration of its domestic Fixed-Odds Betting management contract in the end of January 2007, the situation in Turkey and the fact that we incurred significant start-up and business development expenses in 1Q07. This was achieved due to the expanding and diversified portfolio of the projects the Group is operating and the continuing growth of its Global operations.
Year 2007 will be significant due to new major projects that have started recently or are about to start such as Betting in Italy, Lottery in South Africa, Lottery in Taiwan, Betting in Spain and an important acquisition in the lucrative Argentinean gaming market. Moreover, the potential new business opportunities for INTRALOT have increased significantly recently due to the potential lottery privatizations in the US, gaming market liberalizations in Europe and potential betting and lottery tenders in Asia. We believe that INTRALOT is extremely well positioned - both in terms of operational know-how and financial capabilities - to take advantage of these opportunities and further strengthen its position in the global gaming market. It is proven in the best way that the strategy followed by the company since its creation - that is to focus on the operation of lotteries and/or fixed-odds betting - has started and will continue to payoff for the Company's shareholders".