Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics SA

ATHEX:OPAP

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q2

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Gellie, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome and thank you for joining the OPAP conference call to present and discuss the OPAP S.A. Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Jan Karas, acting CEO of OPAP S.A. Mr. Karas, please proceed.

[Jan Karas, executive]

Thank you very much, operator, and good afternoon and good morning to everybody. Welcome to the OPAP Second Quarter 2020 Investors' Conference Call.

Although trying to grow in a business amid these turbulent times has been a real challenge, we believe that the Q2 figures demonstrate that OPAP is well placed to face challenges. That's why we will start with our CFO, Pavel Mucha, who will comment on the quarter's financial results. I will then provide you with an update of our business progress and future developments. We will then answer any questions you may have.

Pavel, over to you.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

Thank you, Jan, and good afternoon to everybody.

Like it was the case in the first quarter, the second quarter of 2020 was again split into 2 completely different periods for both OPAP and most businesses in Greece. After previous closure, OPAP stores opened again on 11th of May and gaming was opened on 8th of June. As a result, our year-on-year figures demonstrated a material drop. However, the recovery path post the reopening was according to our expectations.

Before going to the details, let me, as always, refer to macro projections. It is obvious that all macro KPIs have plunged during the lockdown with GDP declining by 15.2% in Q2 and final consumption down by as much as 10.1% in the same period. The outlook remains weak, especially since tourism, which accounts for a material part of the GDP, is hardly hit. On the positive side, the government's relief measures are still providing some sort of support to several sectors and individuals while the EU fiscal stimulus should also help towards the end of this year. Overall, GDP estimates for the year still come with a wide range with consensus figures pointing to a sharp drop of minus 0.2%.

Going now to OPAP's performance on Slide 8. Total Q2 GGR declined by 53.2% but clearly, this metric is heavily burdened by the lockdown period because between June 8 and June 30, all of our segments have gradually recovered with some of those, namely online and VLTs, standing above last year's levels. In more detail, Lottery dropped by a nominal 45% in Q2 with post-lockdown GGR recovering but still remaining negative between 8th of June and 30th of June. KINO has been the game that was burdened the most as the game structure and successive 5-minute draws usually require more active time within the shop. When it comes to JOKER, the addition of 5 draw continues to contribute to the games appeal, providing with a mild increase on average of the weaker sales.

Betting wise, revenues declined by 55%. However, the restart of major leagues led to a much improved revenue from June onwards, and Jan will refer to that in more detail later on. VLTs recovered quite promptly also due to the fact that the return-to-normal life post lockdown was more established at the time of gaming hosts reopening in June versus when OPAP stores opened in May. Overall, activity has been satisfactory, leading to a positive double-digit delta between 8th of June and 30th of June versus the same period of last year.

When comparing overall trends, on Slide 9, you will find our performance versus the average mobility trends in retail and recreation. While we obviously lost almost all of our revenue during the lockdown period, we managed to gradually come very close to the mobility average in the partial reopening period and with a positive year-on-year between April, June to 30th of June clearly outperforming mobility trends.

Through a different perspective, and as seen on Slide 10, pre-lockdown performance stood at plus 2% in the first 2 months of the year while the period that includes the lockdown and the partial reopening was down by 67%. The full reopening period pertaining to leagues to the full contribution of OPAP stores and VLTs, i.e., from 8th of June until 31 August was up by 3.1%, thus outperforming even the pre-lockdown period. But the fact that August alone was down by 2.1%, together with the COVID second wave, makes us cautious for the future.

As seen on Slide 11, the material diversification of the regional contribution of revenue demonstrates that even despite our shops reopening, certain airlines that have gone under tougher local COVID-related restriction measures or experienced lower local footfall and spending due to subdued tourism-related income are indeed underperforming versus the average. As a result, although Mainland Greece has still been generating marginally positive performance, the wide peers performance differs among different regions make us really weary about the upcoming autumn period.

Moving on to profitability and turning to Slide 12. Recurring EBITDA for the quarter reached EUR 23 million, which is down by 74.7% for the year. However, looking at this through a different perspective, it took roughly 1 month of full operations for OPAP to generate positive operating profitability for the quarter, something that we believe represents a substantial achievement that demonstrates operating resilience of our business model. On our part, we have been able to fulfill our commitments with regards to OpEx savings as our recurring OpEx base was down in the first half of the year, thus delivering on our promises when the lockdown came. Going forward, both payroll and marketing costs were normalized in line with the future development of the business. Below the EBITDA line, we note noncash impairments of EUR 11.5 million mostly related to horse races where the company numbers have been further burdened by the COVID-related implications and as such, our auditors recommended that we should proceed with such a move.

Finally, moving to Slide 14. Although impairments and amortization charges led to our net profit line to be negative for the quarter, we still managed to record operational cash flow of EUR 70 million for the quarter. As a result, our cash balance remained exceptionally strong at EUR 628 million with our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio shaping at 1.6x. Our solid financial position enabled us to once more deliver an above consensus expectations dividend of EUR 0.30 per share on top of the EUR 1 dividend, which was delivered earlier in the year, and this led to total EUR 1.30 distribution within 2020, which is probably the highest yield when looking at both our international peers and also at Greek large-cap companies.

Just before turning over to Jan, I would like to end my part with a short reference to Stoiximan, which has now been renamed to Kaizen Gaming, and it owns the success of Stoiximan and Betano brands. Its profit for the quarter increased year-on-year. And in Q2, the profit contribution was EUR 1.8 million. So very strong Q1, together with the shift towards online during the COVID period in Q2, has helped the company to grow in the first half of 2020. This is yet another reason why we feel happy that we managed to conclude the second part of the acquisition, and we are now holding an effective 69% stake of the Greek and Cypriot business. We do not stop here. And we have agreed upon authorities' approval to increase further our stake to almost 85% that together with the acquisition of control would, upon auditors' consent, enable us to consolidate the company.

With that, I'm passing back to Jan.

[Jan Karas, executive]

Thank you, Pavel.

Let's go for an operational review of our business for the quarter. So starting with our retail channel on Slide 17. Right since the COVID outbreak, we have put all of our effort into supporting our agents during the lockdown and the subsequent gradual reopening period. In more detail, we helped them minimize liquidity issues. During the closure period, we prepared a set of guidelines to help them benefit from the various governance in those measures while we also provided with a direct support wherever needed. At the same time, we have continued on the path of our estate development by building and upgrading 153 stores in Q2, aiming for completing more than 300 by the end of the year.

Additionally, we have proceeded across the entire network with a satellite infrastructure upgrade, enabling multichannel, high-definition content transmission. Powerspin, our new game, is one of the first successful examples using this new technology. On top, more than 1,000 stores as of today have been equipped with smart digital infrastructure that allows for centralized screens, content management, digital communication and creation of various gaming zones within 1 store. Finally, video walls representing the best audio/visual experience are now already present in around 140 of our stores. All these elements are further enhancing our customer propositions, pursuing the local entertainment destination ambition.

Satisfied that changes and enhancements is visible to the customer, a lot is continuing to happen also in the back end of our operations. In July end, in cooperation with Salesforce, we have introduced our new B2B CRM platform, making another important step in the digitalization of our back office. In a sense, Salesforce is becoming the main collaboration tool of OPAP's sales and network support teams, incorporating all the network processes in a single system. At the same time, it enables real-time store view for both headquarters and front liners. We are also continuing our OPAP-linked initiative that aims at rewarding the best-performing agents through various incentives.

As for the VLTs on Slide 18, although both revenue and active customers obviously declined when taking into account that VLTs were not operational for more than 2/3 of the quarter, we continued with a set of successful initiatives fully supporting our reopening in June. We have launched 4 new games, raising our game portfolio to a total of 100 while holding several initiatives such as loyalty programs and local thematic events. We also aim to optimize both our jackpots offering as well as our cabinets mix, having already reshuffled around 600 VLTs so as to better meet players' demands.

Actually as a result of these actions, and as seen on Slide 19, GGR per VLT per day of these machines that have been operational for a year came in at EUR 44 in Q2, demonstrating a clear sequential improvement versus all the previous quarters. Admittedly, this is also a result of the urge of the players to resume their playing activity post the lockdown, but it is still indicative of the VLT's business dynamics now contributing for more than 20% of the group's GGR.

Sports betting-wise on Slides 20 and 21, we continue to enhance our sports book following best practices across the industry. Live betting is now almost 50% of bets placed with SSBTs accounting for more than 34% of the wagers. In addition, virtuals have gained ground on the back of a successful product relaunch and customers' interest shift due to the lack of sports events in early Q2. That said, the restart of major leagues in June and the conclusion of the Europa and Champions League in August led to an increased year-over-year betting revenues between June and August. But more importantly, it made clear that sports leagues and events can and most probably will now continue to happen, obviously, adapting to the new normal with no or limited team's fans present at the venues. Overall, given the situation, we are satisfied with the games' performance, but note that the delayed conclusion of most league seasons is also meaning that 2020 and 2021 leagues will start later, thus causing a shift in late August, September revenues.

The last day of Q2 was marked by the introduction of Powerspin across the whole OPAP stores estate.

As seen on Slide 22, this new game is further enriching our wide portfolio of fast games and perfectly complementing our players' experience. The game's awareness has been supported by launch campaign, providing with encouraging early performance signs.

On the online front on Slide 23, revenues have been sustained at high levels with both Pame Stoixima and Joker demonstrating materially improved year-over-year performance. GGR moved from just EUR 2.4 million in Q2 2019 to EUR 10 million in Q2 2020, at the same time, also generating increased quarter-on-quarter sequential numbers. Both registered and active customers also increased despite the fact that retail reopened again in May. Specifically, our actives base reached new historical high of 140,000 players in Q2 primarily driven from Joker acquisitions and effective marketing campaigns. Online betting performance that have been affected by the lack of sports events was partially compensated by the launch of online virtuals. We also recently added some new features, such as Joker subscriptions, which enables the player to participate in future draws and pay as he goes.

On the operational front, we are implementing additional actions so as to further enhance this important line of business, which has been gaining market share on the back of COVID-related conditions. In specific, we implemented digital onboarding, thus reducing materially related cost. We introduced robotic process automation in our daily operations, positively impacting performance and customer experience and are constantly improving our VIP customers handling. When it comes to Stoiximan, the company recorded material top line growth in the first half of the year with Greek and Cypriot business growing, international operations gaining ground in the mix. Product-wise, the company has been successful into replenishing sports betting losses with casino, and we are -- we have every reason to believe that 2020 will be another successful year.

Just before concluding our opening statement, our COVID-related approach with regards to our people has been one of abundant caution and at the same time, enactment of best practices regarding proactive protection and contribution to the society. Our CSR program is continuing on every front with the speed of response and collective responsibility being impressive. On top, the reopening of our OPAP stores and play stores as well as in directionals has been successful through our partners' hard work and collaboration. And I would like to use this opportunity to thank them both for their professionalism and commitment. Together with the invaluable support of our employees, we managed to successfully resume our business in the best possible way, and I am confident that we will be able to stay on the same path.

With that, I'm now concluding my opening statement. Thank you for your patience and attention, and I'm opening the floor for any questions you might have.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Draziotis Stamatios with Eurobank Equities.

[Stamatios Draziotis, analyst]

Hope that we are all safe and healthy. Two questions from my side, please. Firstly -- first one, related to current trading. In your presentation, you touched upon a few recent data points. But maybe if you could elaborate a bit on the latest dynamics, I would be mainly interested in what you've been seeing. Since the tightening of social distancing measures, for example, the mandatory wearing of masks by customers, I think it was some time around mid-August, I believe, have you noticed any effect which you will been keen to quantify?

Secondly, as you had promised, you put some effort on curtailing costs in the second quarter. And as you said, this was visibly in operating expenses. Could you tell us the extent to which you feel there is more room to lower costs in certain categories? And if yes, which might be, please? So that was the second question.

And lastly, well, I actually have a question on the big elephant in the room, namely the gaming duty situation. Has there been any discussion with the relevant authorities? And if not, when should we expect developments taking account that the extension period kicks off in less than 2 months?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Pavel, the first one.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

So starting with the first question about the impact of the measures commented in August, we have shown you on one of the slides the trends we have seen in June, July, August. And as you have noticed that, there is an impact in August. In August I think, at the same time, nicely interprets and represents how much it is difficult to predict any future. A lot of partially surprising developments have been happening on a very short notice during August. We have been reacting. And it's very difficult to predict what's ahead of us and predict any trends in these -- under these circumstances. What I think is important to highlight, though, is, at the same time, the last couple of months nicely illustrates that there is and continues to be a customer interest in our games despite the COVID measures. So we believe that the same way customers will be using -- getting used of the COVID measures across the whole retail industry, the same way this will become the new normal for them also for our own estate.

[Jan Karas, executive]

Okay. The second question about costs going forward. Yes, indeed. In Q2 and during the lock down, we managed to reduce our costs very significantly. And as I mentioned in my introductory speech, we are now aligning the costs in line with the business development. So basically, many of the costs are back to the normality because, naturally, with the reopening of our network of both OPAP stores and gaming walls, there are some ongoing operating costs, which are required to run our normal day-to-day operations. But we remain extremely cautious about the future development. And basically, we are ready to come up with extra savings should the situation dramatically change. So yes, we are always looking for ongoing savings, but we need to reinvest into our business for the future growth, but invest cautiously and as soon as the situation -- if the situation would worsen again, be ready again to come up immediately with some cost savings again. And those are normal running operating costs of the retail network, IT and of course, also the marketing costs.

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

The third question will be answered by me, Kamil Ziegler, Executive Chairman. Stamati, related to the -- you call gaming duties, as we informed you last time, that's -- the order on Greek authorities are already informed about existence of this contract, which is valid since the year 2011 and which is consisting of the OPAP prepayment of the GGR contribution for the period October 2020 to October 2030 in amount EUR 1.83 billion. And since that moment that we are not -- there is no further update about any negotiations that ends. What is quite clear, that's -- OPAP is fully ready to implement this contractual agreement during the coming period.

[Stamatios Draziotis, analyst]

Okay. That's clear. Okay. And may I ask a follow-up on the -- on actually the non-gaming activities, if I may, which if I see correctly, they were actually surprisingly strong in Q2. I would say, they were back to normal levels looking at your other operating income line. Could you maybe elaborate a bit on what you've been doing there? And what your plans are in the coming months, please?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Yes. Basically, within other operating income, it's not only non-gaming activities. They have been unfortunately impacted in a similar way as the gaming activities, but we have some one-off items within other operating income which are helping our performance in this line.

[Stamatios Draziotis, analyst]

Okay. So you mean that your non-gaming activities were down and broadly in sync with the rest of the business?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Yes. In a way, they were because obviously our non-gaming activities still happen mostly in OPAP stores. Although part of them, very small part of them happens in the independent retail where still the stores are open but OPAP stores are closed. So obviously, our non-gaming activities were also impacted.

[Stamatios Draziotis, analyst]

Okay. And sorry about the many questions. May I ask a final one and a follow-up? So in H1, what's the amount in other operating income which is like nonrecurring or one-off? Or if you don't have the number handy, we can take it off-line, either one.

[Jan Karas, executive]

In -- well, when you look at like-for-like basis, which we reported there, it's all adjusted there. So that's probably what I would mention.

[Operator]

The next question comes from the line of Mantzavras Paris with Pantelakis Securities.

[Paris Mantzavras, analyst]

Two questions, if I may. The first one refers to the disclosures you make about the performance in the islands during August. Would you say that this is because of lower incomes related to tourism from the residents in the islands? Or do you believe that there is a direct impact from less tourism also?

And secondly, can you update us please on the CEO succession process and what you've done with that?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Pavel?

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

So on the islands, yes, you are guessing right. It's both. And it's not only current disposable income of the people, it's obviously the high level of cautiousness of the locals that is connected with the decrease on the -- in the -- or significant decreases we all see in the traffic industry. So it's not only here and now it's also about the people being way much more cautious about what's coming later in the year. So you're pretty much correct there.

[Jan Karas, executive]

Related to second question, that's -- will be answered by me. Yes. We are continuing in the selection of the new CEO. And just only what I want to stress is that we are, let's say, pre-final stage, and we expect it will be concluded roughly very soon.

[Paris Mantzavras, analyst]

Okay. Clear. Just a final thing, if I may. Can you give us any indication on the time line of the completion of the third leg of the Stoiximan transaction? Because I understand that only then you're going to be starting to fully consolidate the Greeks and Cypriot operations.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

We have a clear step plan for the next stage where we will acquire additional 15% stake and sole control, but that time line is really within this year. So by the end of the year, that's our clear step plan. We would like to acquire additional 15% sole control and being able to fully consolidate Stoiximan. However, we have some regulatory approvals pending there. So it's not entirely in our hands.

[Operator]

The next question is from the line of Memisoglu Osman with Ambrosia Capital.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

Could you share with us how much of the GGR comes from the islands? And also with this minus 2%, if we could get maybe -- I understand islands are impacting it, but is there any more color you can give such as performance of different segments of the business, foot traffic and any other color that you can provide? And I guess is autumn -- after the summer season goes away, are we going to potentially look at easier comps for the islands? That's one bit.

And then on the online side, given the very solid results in Q2, what kind of market share you would say you have now with your own brand and also Stoiximan? And what's the outlook for that market share once we get the new licenses in place?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

Okay. Related to the first question, the islands stand somewhere in the mid-teens. In terms of the total GGR contribution, it's then somewhere in the mid-teens. Now really, as Jan I explained, the issue with the islands is basically local people really didn't very good season, the tourism was significantly down. But also, there is a large number of workforce is coming from the Mainland Greece because there are lots of seasonal jobs in hotels, restaurants, cafés, and many of them have been shut down during the whole summer. So also people from Mainland didn't have their normal seasonal income. So this whole COVID pretty much impact the performance in the rest of the year and into the 2021.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

And the segment performance, was it similar for VLTs, lottery betting in August?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

You mean in the islands?

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

Overall. So you said minus 2% in August. I was just wondering if, for example, betting was lower because of a lot of the activity was in July, right?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

Yes. Well, it was pretty much across the board, yes, without giving any detail.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

Always. Okay.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

Related to online, I will answer this. That's -- there are several -- or let's say, OPAP position in the online market is really in the single-digit percentage. Stoiximan position, that's what we can see. Stoiximan is market leader. Now it's very hard to estimate, to provide some more correct estimation about market share of Stoiximan because what seems to be a little bit evident that some of other operators, and especially wall operators, are playing some games with customer basis. And sometimes, if you can see the official results or somehow published results of them, of their GGR, that's -- it seems that it's not reflecting fully the reality. But definitely, what we can say about Stoiximan is it's -- this is undisputable market leader online in Greece.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

And regarding the outlook for the competitive environment and how you...

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

We hope it will stay the same.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

Okay.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

And with Stoiximan and of course, for OPAP, the whole targets -- the very tough targets for the whole management team is to definitely increase the market share of OPAP, especially once we will have this permanent, let's call it, license framework and environment, then we expect that it will be the fair environment, competitive environment for all participants. And definitely, we want to increase our market share.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Mitra Jason with Sephira Investment Advisors.

[Jason Mitra;Sephira Investment Advisors;Analyst, analyst]

Could I ask you to repeat your response to the question regarding the impending expiry of the GGR tax position in October? I didn't understand your response there. I'm just trying to clarify how we should think about how your GGR tax position will alter into Q4 of this year.

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

Yes. So our answer again is that there is already existing contractual agreement between OPAP and Greek State. And starting October, this contractual agreement assumes that OPAP will start to pay 5% GGR tax because there is a prepaid GGR tax for the next decade in total amount EUR 1.83 billion.

[Jason Mitra;Sephira Investment Advisors;Analyst, analyst]

Right. So would it be reasonable for us to assume that in 2021 and beyond, the 5% GGR tax will be the steady state? Or is there another discussion going on?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

Yes. That's something what this contract -- existing contract assumes.

[Jason Mitra;Sephira Investment Advisors;Analyst, analyst]

I mean is there any other discussion to suggest that, that would be anything other than 5% going forward?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

As we were saying that's -- the relevant Greek authorities were informed. They are fully aware of this contractual agreement existing one. And about this prepaid GGR tax, this is anything what we can say and there is -- currently, anything on the table.

[Jason Mitra;Sephira Investment Advisors;Analyst, analyst]

Okay. So there's no dialogue or expectation that, that would -- or understanding of any adjustment to that?

[Kamil Ziegler, executive]

There is -- so that's a -- if we can consider a dialogue that there was a common exchange of information, then this is dialogue.

[Operator]

The next question is from the line of Kourtesis Iakovos with Piraeus Securities.

[Iakovos Kourtesis, analyst]

Yes. Thank you again to account the cost containment measures you took due to COVID-19. Would you see your CapEx returning to normal levels towards the second half of the year? And where you would see your CapEx figure to shape for fiscal year 2020?

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

Thank you for the question. Our CapEx will definitely finish lower than what would be the standard level. We declared in the past that our standard investment into CapEx per annum stand somewhere between EUR 20 million to EUR 25 million as an ongoing replacement and maintenance CapEx. For 2020, we will definitely stay much lower than this level because, a, already during the COVID, we not only were trying to do the cost containment measures, but also the CapEx containment measures because we were cautious of CapEx. And frankly, some of the projects could not be executed due to the lockdown. So as a result, we canceled a number of projects or postponed them for the next year. In the second half of the year, like with the OpEx, even with CapEx, we are quite cautious. So we're not stopping it completely, but we will come lower than would be the normal level of the EUR 20 million plus.

[Iakovos Kourtesis, analyst]

Okay. Taking this into account, should we estimate a higher than the normal level of CapEx for 2021? Or it will stay in EUR 20 million, EUR 25 million?

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

It's a bit difficult to say now. We are currently undergoing the strategic discussion for the next long-term period for OPAP. We have a lot of initiatives which we are discussing. So at this stage, I would not like to comment on this one, please.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Pointon Russell with Edison.

[Russell Pointon, analyst]

Just a quick question, please. Could you just talk about what consumer behavior is like as they returns to venues? Was it fewer people spending more or was it pretty much similar people coming through? And were there a difference in demographics in terms of slightly younger people more willing to come out versus older people?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Thank you for your question. In terms of consumer behaviors, it is something that we see evolving in time. But as you would expect, we obviously see customers being more concerned about the safety and security. So they kind of think twice if they want to walk into the store and spend time in the store. We see a large part of the customers preferring to stay on the outside, which, thanks to the good weather in Greece is at this moment's possible. We see customers being generally cautious about the safety and security. We generally see a very positive feedback from customers about how OPAP has approached the security and safety and all the measures we have taken.

At the same time, customers are concerned, though, about the other customers being irresponsible and behaving irresponsible. And that is something, especially for those who are living in Greece, we certainly observe the same trend. Every week, this is changing and improving in a good way. The compliance with the measures and people being responsible in their behaviors of wearing masks and behaving responsibly. So that is evolving, but we obviously do see an impact on customer behaviors, and that's something that we are also reflecting in our plans going forward where we will be trying always to provide customers with a safe environment and with solutions that will be addressing this relatively new insights that I'm afraid are here to stay for some time, and some of them even for long. So we need to adjust to this new normal.

[Russell Pointon, analyst]

And do you have any fear for spend per customer? Has there been some, I don't know, catch-up spend from those customers who perhaps haven't spent over the lockdown period?

[Jan Karas, executive]

Again, I think it would be very irresponsible to say that we have no fear. Many things may change in the months to come. Many different developments may happen. And even though we obviously pray and hope for the best for the people in Greece, we are obviously prepared also for some of the best scenarios. The worst-case being, again, some significant lockdowns on specific geographical areas, hopefully not Greek-wide. So -- but we'll see how that evolves. Spend per customer is one of the categories where many different evolutions may happen depending on how the whole economy will be doing and what people will see in terms of the macroeconomic situations and measures applied, difficult to forecast.

[Russell Pointon, analyst]

Yes. So I know it's difficult to forecast, but how was spend per customer when they were back in the shops? Was it fewer customers spending more because there was a bit of pent-up demand having not spent through the summer?

[Jan Karas, executive]

We have a seen -- we haven't seen dramatic decrease. We have seen slight decrease. We have seen also a slight decrease in time spent, not that much in occasion. So it seems like people continue to come following their usual habits, but they tend to spend less time or they are trying to avoid saying -- spending -- excuse me, spend -- they're trying to avoid staying on the inside because of the security concerns.

[Operator]

We have a follow-up question from the line of Memisoglu Osman with Ambrosia Capital.

[Osman Memisoglu, analyst]

Just wanted to touch upon your capital allocation, i.e., the dividend angle, obviously. How frequently are you considering this? You just made a payment, obviously. If things were to normalize, and I realize there's uncertainty, could we expect another announcement along with the third quarter results? Or is it totally off the plan now given the various moving parts? Any color there would be helpful.

[Pavel Mucha, executive]

Yes. As you know, we've made very high distribution already during 2020, in total, EUR 1.30. Yes, in normal circumstances, we would be thinking about interim dividend. Currently, we have to be extremely cautious about what COVID will bring going forward. So I think it's too early to discuss that. We have to wait and see how the COVID develops, how the business develops.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Karas for any closing comments. Thank you.

[Jan Karas, executive]

Thank you all very much for your participation. I wish you all stay safe, and I will be looking forward to talk to you soon. Have a great day. Bye.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded and you may disconnect your telephones. Thank you for calling and have a pleasant evening.