ATHENS, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Greece's OPAP, Europe's biggest betting firm, was considering offering in-play betting on its fixed-odds Stihima game next year, its CEO said on Wednesday.
OPAP's Chief Executive Christos Hadjiemmanuil told an analyst conference that OPAP may offer in-play betting by the second-quarter of 2010 to take advantage of increased betting activity during the World Soccer Cup.
"By the time of the World Cup, Stihima will not be played in the manner it is played now," Hadjiemmanuil said. On Tuesday, OPAP reported a 12 percent drop in net profit as competition from online bookmakers hurt sales.
"Our intention is to eventually improve and enrich the product," Hadjiemmanouil said.
OPAP has a monopoly on sports betting and lotteries in Greece until 2020. But its major sports betting game, Stihima, which has experienced strong growth in recent years, is now facing stiff competition from foreign Internet bookmakers, despite online betting being illegal in Greece.
The firm would also offer higher odds on major events on Stihima, in yet another move to fight off online bookmakers, Hadjiemmanuil said.
The CEO also said a law imposing a new gaming tax on OPAP's net winnings would be effective as of Sept. 21, after discussions with the Greek government on the technical details were finalised.
In a bid to reduce the public deficit, the government said in June it would impose a new 10 percent tax on previously tax-free winnings. The relevant law was passed a few weeks later.
Shares in OPAP have lost about 19 percent since then, on concerns that the tax could hit the firm's most lucrative games, Kino and Stihima.
The CEO said he did not expect the talks to lead to any major changes to the law but its impact on the firm might be softened by the way it will be implemented.
Hadjiemmanuil had said last month that the new tax, as well as a July 1 smoking ban taking effect on July 1, might stop the firm from achieving its target for flat core profit this year. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)