“During the third quarter, all our operations are finally up and running again – for the first time in more than 15 months,” proudly proclaims Patrik Hofbauer, Svenska Spel CEO and president, as the Swedish gaming firm looks to achieve company-wide growth moving forward.
The comments come following the reopening of the group’s land-based Casino Cosmopol businesses in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, on July 7, following 465 days of mandated closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was followed up on September 29 with the lifting of restrictions that were still in place, meaning that the gaming properties no longer had limits on the number of guests able to be on property at the same time or at gaming tables. All slot machines were restarted, with poker rooms and restaurants once more becoming available at full capacity.
“Guests have found their way back to our three casinos since opening on July 7,” Hofbauer stated. “The Casino Cosmopol and Vegas business area increased net gaming revenues by 65 per cent compared with the same quarter last year when our casinos were completely closed.”
Adding: “We continue to provide our customers with entertaining gaming experiences in a responsible manner, and we report growth in terms of revenue as well as customer bases and online gaming.
“With all our operations finally open again, more employees back in our offices and high energy in the organisation, it looks positive going forward for the entire company.”
As an optimistic outlook if offered by the company, Hofbauer reflects on the group’s performance through a third quarter which brought not only growth in revenue but also an uptick in both customer base and online games offerings.
Net gaming revenue during the July to September period came in at SEK 1.97bn, an increase of seven per cent from SEK 1.84bn which the group aligned to the elimination of land-based closures. Operating profit through Q3 scored a 31 per cent uptick to close at SEK 696m (2020: SEK 531m).
The aforementioned Casino Cosmopol and Vegas business segment grew 65 per cent during the time frame to contribute revenue of SEK 292m (2020: SEK 177m).
Furthermore, Svenska Spel also reports that its sports and casino business area increased seven per cent during Q3 to SEK 526m (2020: SEK 490m), with the Tur lottery segment dropping two per cent to SEK 1.15bn (2020: SEK 1.18bn).
For the year to date, including the closure of casinos from the end of March 2020 until July 7, 2021, revenue closed at a seven per cent increase to SEK 5.91bn (2020: SEK 5.56bn). Operating profit grew ten per cent to SEK 1.86bn (2020: SEK 1.7bn).
