Topic: How To Invest

What is your opinion about the Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics SA (otherwise known as OPAP SA)? It is a lottery and gaming corporation. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

The Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics SA, $3.18, symbol GOFPY on the U.S. over-the-counter bulletin board (ADRs outstanding: 638.0 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; www.opap.gr), is a public company based in Athens, Greece. Its main listing is on the Athens Stock Exchange. Greeks call the company OPAP for short. OPAP was founded as a state-owned company in 1958. It was reorganized in 2000 and granted a 20-year license as the sole operator of lottery and sports-betting games in Greece. It first sold shares to the public and listed on the Athens Stock Exchange in 2001. The Greek government owns 34% of the company’s shares. OPAP conducts six numerical lottery games, LOTTO, JOKER, PROTO, SUPER 3, EXTRA 5 and KINO, as well as three sports-related games, STIHIMA, PROPO and PROPO-GOAL. The company has also designed two new lottery games, Bing and Super 4. For 2011, OPAP reported a profit of 542.9 million euros. That’s equal to $660 million U.S., or $1.03 U.S. per ADR…