Veikkaus shows profit decline

Veikkaus, the gaming operator of Finland having a monopoly in the country, has suffered a decline in profits and revenue for the financial year of 2018. The company has taken note of the development and is planning to introduce a digital offering of its business in the next three years.

Veikkaus reported that its revenues fell by 2.4 per cent to €3.1 billion in 2018. The Lucky Games segment generated the highest revenue, totalling €1.1 billion, which represents 37.8 per cent of the total revenue. Lotto, the most popular game in the country, generated a revenue of €340.4 million, marking a 1.3 per cent decline.

Moreover, slots and instant games, both online and land-based, bingo and instant win games witnessed a revenue decline of 5.9 per cent to €1.1 billion. Online and land-based sports betting, to and pools experienced a 4.8 per cent fall to €799.4 million.

The company reported that profits totalled €1.01 billion in 2018, which represents a 0.7 per cent decrease when compared to the previous year. Veikkaus believes that there is a shift to land-based offering to digital, and therefore they have committed to develop that segment in order to shift the results in the next three years.

Veikkaus president and chief executive Olli Sarekoski said: “Succeeding in the competition and ensuring our ability to channel gaming also provide the basis for the exclusive right and its continuation. We want to be able to provide games responsibly even in the future, minimising game-related harm and channelling gaming revenue to the benefit of Finnish people.”