Finnish lottery operator Veikkaus has revealed it underwent a ‘challenging’ H1 period as the group registered profits of €332.7m and Gross Gaming Revenue of €607.2m, marking a reduction of 33.6% and 28.1% respectively when compared to the same period last year.
The drop has unsurprisingly been attributed to the outbreak of COVID-19, with the group revealing that the health crisis period saw it lose out on roughly one third of its usual weekly turnover.
As a result, current estimates regarding Veikkaus’ profit for the whole year see the group registering €300m less than originally expected due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the group also admitting that it will be unable to ‘attain the profit expectation of €1,013.5m recorded in the State Budget’.
Veikkaus’ CFO Regina Sippel, stated: “Just as many other operators, Veikkaus has had an exceptional and challenging spring. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our proceeds to society will remain at a significantly lower level than previously.
“We introduced significant changes in the spring, in order to reinforce the responsibility and safety of gaming. With these changes, we want to make sure that people to whom gambling causes problems have the chance to do their shopping more safely.”
As COVID-19 spread, Veikkaus decided to close all of its gaming arcades and slot machines of the retail network on 13 March. The arcades were reopened on 26 June, paying special attention to protective measures, and the slot machines of the retail network were opened mid-July. In addition to the slot machine closure, the coronavirus pandemic affected strongly, for example, betting, as almost all the sports series were paused due to the virus.
Other key figures posted by the group include a 28% decrease in lottery tax when compared to last year to €72.8m, with 55.9% of its GGR coming from points of sales, whereas 44.1% came from the digital channel.
Jari Vähänen, Founder of The Finnish Gambling Consultants, commented: “Gambling in retail channels was in big trouble as everywhere else. Although the decline in Veikkaus’ GGR and revenue was large, it was smaller than in many other countries due to the large share of digital business. More than 40% of digital gambling saved Veikkaus from bigger problems.
“The coronavirus preceded the collapse of the physical slot machine business. From 2021, slot machine gaming will be subject to mandatory identification in Finland, which will reduce gambling according to the forecast as much as covid-19 reduced this year.
“Veikkaus itself regularly orders research data on the number of gambling problems. Compared to similar previous research, it would appear that the decline in gambling has also reduced the number of gambling problems. However, Veikkaus’ research result should not be compared with the result of the Finnish authorities’ gambling problem research.”