Sweden’s state-owned gambling sites profits drop as regulation looms

The impending market liberalisation of the Sweden gambling industry saw state-owned gambling operator, Svenska Spel, witness a drop in gaming revenue and profits in the third quarter of 2018.

The company declared a 2.3% drop in its third-quarter revenue year on year. The operator in its revenue report declared a net gaming revenue of SEK 2.12 billion (US$233 million). The third quarter, however, saw a profit drop of 2.2 per cent to SEK 1.17 billion with an operating margin of 23.1 per cent, lower than 23.4 per cent achieved last year.

Svenska Spel attributed the drop in profit to the 20 per cent fall in sales of its Vegas video lottery terminals, which posted a net gaming revenue of SEK 56 million.

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To limit losing market share to foreign gambling companies, Svenska Spel has signed deals with private operators including Evolution Gaming and NetEnt.

The company in the third quarter had to commit funds in preparation towards the new market to begin in January 1, 2019. As such SEK29 million was committed to implementing changes and innovations along with conversion to GDPR.

The company saw an increase in its online and mobile segments thanks to an improved user interface and mobile banking facilities. Digital sale increased by 22 per cent to SEK675 million year on year, while mobile phone sales increased 42 per cent.

However, about 60 per cent of new online gambling accounts created in Sweden in the past year were registered with foreign companies says a recent study. Foreign operators have become very popular in Sweden despite not being legally licensed.