Report
Stamatios Draziotis CFA

OPAP | Follow the cash – Hidden value v3.0

Our new OPAP note “Follow the cash – Hidden value v3.0” is a must-read for investors involved in Greek equities as we deep-dive in 2 pillars of value creation, one short-term (related to the tax status for Stoiximan and earnouts from Betano) and one medium-term (renewal value optionality). These add up to €5 per share corresponding to >30% upside vs current levels.

In particular, following hidden value v1.0 (gaming duty pre-payment) in early 2018, we revisit the debate we recently initiated on the hidden value v2.0 stemming from the licence renewal optionality of OPAP’s concessions, something that will be a focal point in the coming years and is set to catalyze c€4 value creation on our estimates (c25% upside). In this report, we also focus on a source of value creation which has gone unnoticed by the market, namely the low effective tax rate for Stoiximan due to the tax refund system in effect in Malta along with the potential earnouts related to OPAP’s sold stake in Betano. These add up to c€1.3/share on our numbers, corresponding to c8% upside.

Besides the above, we run through the details of each concession, explain the uniqueness of the business model (franchise-based, low capital intensity, high cash conversion) arguing that the high FCF conversion (>80% of EBITDA) along with the sustainable and visible dividends in the coming years (10-11% yield) warrant higher valuation.

We have lifted our PT to €17.9 mainly as a result of the reduction in our Stoiximan effective tax rate and the higher earnouts assumed from Betano and reiterate OPAP as one of our top picks in Greece.
Underlying
Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics SA

OPAP is engaged in the operating and management of numerical lottery and sports betting games as well as lottery games. Co. holds concession to operate and manage new sports betting games in Greece as well as a right of first refusal to operate and manage any new lottery games permitted by the Hellenic Republic. Co. operates six numerical lottery games, including Joker, Lotto, Proto, Extra 5, Super 3, and Kino; and three sports betting games consisting of Stihima, Propo, and Propo-goal. Co. is also engaged in designing new lottery games, including Bingo and Super 4. Co. distributes its games through an extensive on-line network of agents.

Provider
Eurobank Equities
Eurobank Equities

Eurobank Equities is a Greek-based firm offering research, sales and trading services to institutional, corporate and private clients. The company is wholly owned by Eurobank, one of the 4 systemic banks in Greece.

Research is the backbone of Eurobank Equities' platform, with a team of 4 professionals committed to generating actionable investment ideas by providing timely research products. We are committed to offering value-added services to clients by filtering market noise and providing insights on the multiple sectors that we cover. Our universe includes 26 - large, medium and small cap - companies whose market capitalization amounts to 80-85% of the total market capitalization of the Athens Stock Exchange. Our research team also maintains the capacity to generate ad-hoc research for micro-cap listed companies.

Our team has consistently gained recognition among institutional investors for its quality research, having ranked No. 1 team in Greece at the Extel Surveys of 2013-2016 and 2018. We have also been named Leading Brokerage Firm in Greece over 2014-2016 and in 2018.

Analysts
Stamatios Draziotis CFA

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