Sweden re-regulated and opened its market to private and foreign companies at the start of the year and the influx of operators has been attributed as a factor for some of the decline.
The company’s CEO, Patrik Hofbauer, says Svenska Spel is pleased with the new market but not with its results in this initial quarter.
Its land-based operations, Casino Cosmopol & Vegas, fell 17% to SEK416m while lottery dropped 6% to SEK1.1bn.
Svenska Spel reports SEK544m in revenue from sport and casino, a 4% increase year-on-year.
Operating profit for the period up to 31 March decreased 55% to SEK519m. Svenska Spel paid SEK401m in gaming taxes for the period.
Hofbauer said: “The result for the quarter was affected by the division of the group, which was both extensive and demanding. Among other things, this meant the sports and casino business area had to build up a new customer database from scratch.
“The change work required a great deal of internal focus, made us introvert. But now we are finally up and running, all in line with new gaming regulations and competition legislation.”
