Swedish Gambling Financials Drop in Q2

Sweden’s gambling landscape is about to become a whole different beast. There have been numerous changes announced this year, starting with the new licensing process that will begin on August 1st and those who apply for these licenses will be going live on January 1st 2019.

A Deal with Evolution Gaming

Also, the country’s gaming monopoly, Live Casino for the punters in this Scandinavian country.

Things have got off to a good start, as there has been an unprecedented number of interested international operators, aiming for securing that new Swedish license. This shift in regulation and licensing has been taken care of by the country’s governing gambling regulator, LotteriInspektionen.

Every Silver Lining Has a Black Cloud

A few days ago, Svenska Spel publicly posted their financial results for 2018’s second quarter, and the numbers aren’t so good. In fact, there has been a plunge in revenue and operating profits compared to the same period last year. This is not the news they were hoping for before the market becomes open to international operators starting January 1st.

Namely, Svenska Spel’s revenues were down 4% from last year to SEK 2 billion, and operating profits plummeted by 11% to SEK 975 million. On a more positive note, digital revenues soared by 20% to SEK 621 million and mobile wagering saw a significant increase by 42%.

No Reason to Panic

Svenska Spel President and CEO, Lennart Kall, comments on these figures…

“We are still strong as the entire Swedish people’s gaming company and meet customer demand for gaming experience with an expanded range and product development. Customers continue to give us high ratings in our satisfied customer index, and with broad margins we have the highest image value of the gaming companies. We look forward to the new gaming market.”

Source:

“Svenska Spel posts second quarter revenue and profit decline”, gamingintelligence.com, July 23, 2018.