Sweden – Svenska Spel sees first half increase
Sweden’s state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel has seen profits in the first half of 2013 increase by 4.2 per cent, year on year.
First half profits came in at KR2.522bn (US$388.9m) due to increased activity in the sports and lotteries division, which increased by 3.1 per cent or KR99m ($15.2m). Casino Cosmopol venue reported a slight improvement in its earnings of 0.9 per cent or KR5m ($771,038) compared to the first six months of 2012. Net gaming revenues for the company as a whole improved by 0.1 per cent year-on-year to KR4.781bn ($737.1m) improving operating profit in the gambling division by 3.7 per cent.
Svenska Spel President Lennart Kall said: “Despite a record number of stateless bookmakers in the Swedish market, which market themselves aggressively, we are still strong in the market. Our growth is for products that have both lower risk and better margins, which means that we improved our operating margin and earnings for the first six months compared with the same period last year. We have achieved our best-ever operating profit with a profit margin that is in line with the owner’s target. This increase is primarily the result of strong sales of lottery tickets, number games and sports bets, both through our agents and online.”
He added that Svenska Spel has decided to fund a professorship for research into gambling addiction and will also collaborate with the Swedish Sports Confederation to strengthen its efforts at preventing match-fixing and sports manipulation.
