Greek betting firm OPAP Q2 net seen down 61%

Greek betting firm OPAP's profit is expected to have more than halved in the second quarter, hit by a windfall tax the government imposed on businesses to shore up its ailing finances.
Analysts polled by Reuters forecast group net profit of 60.5 mln euros on average against 155.5 mln in the year ago period, a 61% drop year on year.
They said a debt crisis levy the government imposed on 2009 corporate profit after it signed a 110 bln euro bailout with the EU and the IMF, shaved 94 mln euros off of OPAP's second-quarter earnings.
Increased wagers on sports betting game Stihima during the World Soccer Cup this summer more than offset lower gaming spend due to the economic downturn in Greece.
Sales were seen up 5.8% to 1.37 bln euros with revenue from Stihima rising 22%, offsetting a weak performance by lottery Kino.
In July, two OPAP sources said they expected players had placed sports bets of about 250 mln euros during the June-July World Cup.
A series of jackpot rollovers in lottery Joker also boosted revenues.
OPAP, which is 34% state owned, has said it expects flat full-year sales due to austerity measures and a deepening recession in Greece. Last year, it had sales of 5.4 bln euros.
Shares in OPAP have lost 24.4% since the start of the year, in line with a 24% drop on the Athens bourse's benchmark index.
The stock trades about 7.7 times estimated 2010 earnings, compared with a P/E ratio of 9 for British Ladbrokes, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.