Friday 28 September 2012

NFO Sector - Greek government to sell stake in betting company NEUTRAL


- According to Reuters, Greece would be selling 33% out of its 34% stake in OPAP. 

- The Greek government’s proposed sale of OPAP is part of its privatisation plans to raise funds. OPAP is a lottery company, which also takes bets in sports. 

- OPAP is listed in Athens and its closing share price was 4.17 Euros. 

- The Greek government’s 33% stake would cost about 439mil Euros or RM1.7bil. 

- It was reported that four consortia of Greek and foreign companies were interested to buy the stake in OPAP.

- Apart from the Greek government, Fidelity Investments also owns a 5% stake in OPAP.

- We wonder if the NFOs in Malaysia would be interested to acquire the stake in OPAP. Some of the overseas ventures undertaken by the Malaysian NFOs have not been successful.

- These include Magnum Corporation’s venture in Indonesia and Tanjong PLC’s associate investment in Moscow. The companies had to make provisions for their overseas investments subsequently.

- Berjaya Sports Toto bucks the trend with its 88%-stake in Berjaya Philippines. Berjaya Philippines’ revenue increased 4% to Peso2bil (RM146mil) YoY in FYE4/12 while its pre-tax profit rose 5% to Peso1.4bil (RM103mil).

- We reckon that it would not be easy managing OPAP’s operations due to the high tax rates. It has been reported that the Greek government receives a royalty of 30% on certain games, while revenue from video lottery terminals can be taxed as high as 35%.

- Currently, Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd (MPHB), which owns Magnum and Berjaya Sports Toto (BST), are busy with their corporate exercises. 

- MPHB is due to list its non-gaming assets (excluding stockbroking) by 1H2013, while BST is supposed to list its lottery operations via a business trust on the Singapore Stock Exchange by year-end.    

- We have HOLD recommendations on both MPHB and BST. MPHB’s dividend yield is forecast at 4.8% for FY12F, while BST’s dividend yield is expected to be at 7.2% for FYE4/13F.

Source: AmSecurities

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