Despite a Dip in Revenue, Svenska Spel Sees More Profit

Svenska Spel reported a slight year-on-year increase in their net profit for 2022. This is despite a 1.2% decline in revenue. The report provides a backdrop for their upcoming annual dividend paid out to the state, which will match the previous year’s contribution of SEK2 billion.

Positive though conflicting signs in the numbers.

The Swedish state-ran Svenska Spel took in SEK8.04 billion in total revenue in 2022, a bit off from SEK8.14 billion in 2021. But breaking down the numbers shows that the overall picture is not one-sided.

As in previous years, their biggest revenue generator was their lottery division. It accounted for well over half of all proceeds, SEK4.9 billion — a mere 0.4% fall from the previous year. There is some speculation that the minor step back has to do with changing consumer practices.

On the other hand, the Sport and Casino division saw much worse performance. It fell 12.2% (SEK2.07 billion) year-on-year. Though the decrease was significant, it did not come as a surprise. Sweden enacted new customer compliance controls, dampening profits for the division.

Sports in general also failed to interest bettors as much in the year. The Fifa World Cup’s move to winter, along with the Swedish national team’s failure to qualify, significantly hurt interest. And several event cancellations early on in the year also weakened sports betting.

Their Cosmopol and Vegas division, referring to their physical casinos and slot machines, saw major growth — rising from SEK872 million to SEK1.07 billion, or a 22.8% jump. This growth almost certainly had to do with the lack of pandemic restrictions, which greatly limited their performance in the first half of 2021.

Svenska Spel also saw healthy earnings from online casino gaming, restaurants, bingo halls, and other operations. Those were enough to bring total gross profits near, though not quite equal to, the previous year.

Lower spending overall meant that, despite lower revenue, they were able to slightly improve profits. That moved profits from SEK2.47 billion in 2021 to SEK2.52 billion in 2022 — a 1.9% increase. The modest increase is somewhat disappointing, given the grave challenges they faced through 2021.

Svenska Spel to pay out SEK2 billion dividend for 2022.

Svenska Spel is a state-owned gambling company in Sweden. From its founding in 1997 until January 1, 2019, the company operated as a monopoly. Every year, it pays out a dividend to the Swedish state.

Their 2021 dividend of SEK2 billion will be matched for 2022, announced Svenska Spel chief executive Patrik Hobauer.

With the dividend announcement, Hobauer emphasized the company’s contribution to the country over its history. “During the 25 years that Svenska Spel has existed, together with our customers, we have contributed over SEK100 billion to the state treasury.”

That is a defining difference for Svenska Spel since it lost its monopoly in 2019.