Lotto Titan Eyes Growth Here
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Intralot, the world's second-largest lottery systems provider, is looking to expand its business operations in South Korea, which would double as a growing market and technology test bed, according to the Greek company's Asia-Pacific CEO.
As part of the Nanum Lotto consortium, Intralot won a five-year license to operate Korea's national lotto in 2007, and the turnover for the first year was around 2.3 trillion won (about $1.69 billion), the company said.
``We believe there is a lot of room for growth here … the national lottery market is about four times larger in Greece, which has a personal income level similar to Korea but a population of just over 11 million,'' said Chris Moumouris, chief executive of Intralot Asia-Pacific, in an interview with The Korea Times.
``We believe Korea could develop as our central strategic point as we look to expand further into the Asia-Pacific market. Korea is a very demanding market, distinguished by its high standards for technology, and we think that if we could be successful here, we could be successful anywhere,'' he said.
As a shareholder in Nanum Lotto, Intralot provides the software for operating the lottery's main system and audit systems and the 8,500 retailer terminals used nationwide.
Intralot, which has a presence in 50 countries, posted revenue of 835.5 million euros (about $1.1 billion) in 2007, with its international business accounting for about 80 percent of sales.
Asia currently accounts for 24 percent of the revenue from games operated by Intralot around the world, Moumouris said, with about 7.6 percent coming from Korea.
``The goal after the first year in Korea was to break even, but we made a little profit,'' Moumouris said, declining to provide further sales figures.
``Our competitive advantage in global markets comes from our dual role as a technology provider and gaming operator, as we do with Nanum. We think as an operator and use our technology to develop products that make the job easier and better for us, which also benefits other gaming operators around the world,'' he added.
Moumouris plans to name a chief executive for local operations as early as in the first-half of the year and said the company's Korean office, which currently employs 16 people, will expand accordingly with business growth.
Intralot is also considering establishing a technology center here for developing and testing game systems and devices that could be used in other markets, Moumouris said.