Per Jaldung to step down as Casino Cosmopol CEO
Jaldung will leave Svenska Spel’s land-based casino brand before the end of this year.
Sweden.- Per Jaldung has announced on LinkedIn that he will leave his role as chief executive of Svenska Spel’s land-based casino brand Casino Cosmopol. He will step down before the end of the year, marking the end of a 14-year tenure that began in November 2008.
Jaldung began working at Casino Cosmopol in 2002 as security manager. He then did a stint as general manager before rising to CEO. He has been chairman of the board at the European Casino Association since February 2015.
Before joining Casino Cosmopol, he worked in the police force for nine years. He spent more than three years as a police officer in Stockholm and then more than five years as a detective inspector and finally 18 months as acting detective superintendent at the National Criminal Investigation Department until June 2002.
Jaldung painted a dramatic picture of his time at the helm of Casino Cosmopol.
He wrote: “It’s been an exciting roller coaster ride, including events such as the opening of the casino in Stockholm, with the Deputy Prime Minister performing the first spin on the roulette; media headlines countless times, for good and bad; robberies and gunshots, casino weddings and happy guests, a diversity award, as well as reports of discrimination; a penalty fee from the gaming authority and revised AML program, and investigation by the competition authority.
“We’ve also had yearly Casino Meet & Awards, floods and fires on the gaming floors, Super Jackpots, chairman of the VLT project, Svenska Spel’s biggest project of all time in terms of investments; improved gambling responsibility with duty of care and affordability checks and speaking and moderating at numerous summits and shows.
“Above all, during these years, I have worked with so many incredibly talented and wonderful casino people, both with colleagues in our group and with others internationally. I have done my best for a very long time. But now it’s time to hand over to a new person who will continue the important work of developing our casinos for the future.”
Jaldung said he would continue to lead the business as normal until he leaves and will prepare for the transition.
In July, Svenska Spel reported that its Q2 revenue was up by 1 per cent year-on-year from SEK 1,938m to SEK 1,963m (€186.5m). However, operating profit fell by 4 per cent to SEK 1,127m (€106.8m).
The slight increase in revenue was mainly due to the fact that casinos were closed due to Covid-19 countermeasures in 2021. Meanwhile, the drop in profit was mainly due to higher costs, including investment in product development and technology.
However, the company’s focus on responsible gambling initiatives also had a “negative impact on revenue”, it said.
Meanwhile, Ålands Penningautomatförening (Paf), the gambling operator owned by the regional government of the Åland islands, has proposed that Sweden ban gambling advertising and hike taxes on the industry.
