Svenska Spel sees revenue fall after land-based casino closures
The Swedish gambling operator’s full-year revenue was down year-on-year.
Sweden.- The state-controlled gambling operator Svenska Spel has reported full-year revenue of SEK7.74bn (€683.9m) for 2024. The total was down by 3.7 per cent year-on-year following the closure of two land-based Casino Cosmopol venues early in the year. The impact of social responsibility measures and the hike in Sweden’s gambling tax also hurt results.
Revenue was down in three out of the operator’s four core segments. Logically, Casino Cosmopol carried the brunt of the downturn, with revenue down 65.1 per cent following the closure of its Gothenburg and Malmö casinos in January 2024. Only the flagship Stockholm casino remains, and there have been signs that the government may push Svenska Spel to close the land-based casino business completely.
Meanwhile, the Tur lottery segment, Svenska Spel’s biggest earner, was the only core sector to see growth. Revenue rose by 4.3 per cent year-on-year to SEK5.14bn. In contrast, the online sports betting and casino segment saw a decline of 4.3 per cent to SEK2.07bn, at least partly due to increased responsible gambling measures.
Revenue from the Vegas gaming machine business fell by 22.4 per cent to SEK364m. Svenska Spel also ascribed this to responsible gambling measures as well as to the general economic situation.
While staff costs fell amid the casino closures, there were one-off external costs. As such, operating profit was down by 9.3 per cent at SEK2.12bn. Pre-tax profit was down 7.7 per cent at SEK2.26bn and net profit by 8.9 per cent at SEK1.77bn.
CEO Anna Johnson said the company was “well equipped for the investments we need to make going forward.”
She said: “We continue to strengthen responsible gaming because caring for our customers is one of our highest priorities. This negatively affects our revenues and profitability, but it is a conscious choice as we want all our customers to play healthily with us. This has the intended positive effect on healthy revenue; that is, revenue from customers with a low risk of developing gambling problems.”
She said a recovery in the last quarter bodes well for the current year, adding: “2024 has been a year of major changes for Svenska Spel and a weak economy in Sweden. It is a sign of strength that the year ended with a quarter with revenues in line with the previous year and improved operating profit linked to lower operating costs.”
