Veikkaus’ Digital Gaming Market Share Increased by 3 Percentage Points

April 3, 2024 | Financial

Helsinki, Finland (April 2, 2024) — Veikkaus had a successful year, especially in terms of digital gaming, and the result for 2023 was in line with the target. 180,000 new people registered as Veikkaus customers, and the size of the customer base already exceeded the limit of 2.5 million registered customers. Digital gaming grew by 4.5 percentage points and made up almost 55% of the gaming margin. Veikkaus’ development investments are especially focused on the digital channel, where games from Veikkaus’ own game studio also produce a large part of e.g. Game margin of eArpo and online casino. In addition, preparations were made during the year for the fact that from the beginning of 2024, all Veikkaus games can only be played by a registered Veikkaus customer. Veikkaus is the first gaming company in the world where scratch cards are also part of the same safer gaming environment based on registered customers.

Veikkaus year 2023:

Veikkaus Group’s actual business income in 2023 was 1,033.1 million. EUR (-3.5% compared to 2022). The actual income of the business shows the gambling margin and the turnover of other business.
Veikkaus Group’s result was 578.5 million. EUR (-13.7%) and operating profit 573.6 million. euro (-14.5%). The decrease in the result was influenced by the increase in the lottery tax, unusual entries made as a result of the change negotiations held in the autumn, and significant investments in the future of the group.
Parent company Veikkaus Oy’s profit for 2023 was 585.0 million. EUR (-14.0%) and operating profit 580.2 million. euro (-14.7%). Veikkaus Oy’s income from gaming operations during the financial year, i.e. gambling profit, was 1032.0 million. euro (-3.6%). The decrease was affected by the responsibility measures taken by Veikkaus, i.e. the mandatory identification for coupon games of the physical channel in May 2023.
The lottery tax billed to the state from the gaming margin of gambling operations increased by 1.6 percentage points from the previous year’s 3.4% and was 5% in the accounting period. Veikkaus Oy paid DKK 51.7 million in lottery tax in the year under review. EUR, which is 15.4 million euro more than in 2022.
The share of identified gambling in all of Veikkaus’ domestic gambling operations in 2023 was 90.6% (+11.1 percentage points). From January 1, 2024, all Veikkaus games can only be played by Veikkaus’ registered customers and they must identify themselves when playing.
At the end of 2023, Veikkaus had approximately 2,520,000 registered customers. The number of registered customers increased during the year by approximately 180,000 customers (+8.0%).

The transition of gambling to the digital channel, which has been going on for a long time, also continued in 2023, when 54.8% of the gaming margin of Veikkaus’ consumer gambling operations came from the digital channel (+4.5 percentage points). According to H2 Gambling Capital’s estimate, Veikkaus’ share of the entire digital gambling market in Finland was approximately 54% (+3 percentage points) in the reporting year.

– Veikkaus’ result and performance in 2023 were in line with expectations and you can be satisfied with them. The year was particularly successful for our online games, and Veikkaus’ development investments are currently focused especially on the development of the digital channel, says Veikkaus’ CFO Regina Sippel .

In terms of game margin, the online casino (digital automatic games and digital table games) performed best among the game groups, with a game margin of 184.0 million. EUR (+6.1%). The growth was particularly influenced by successful game releases.

The most played games in Veikkaus were Eurojackpot and Lotto. The game margin of the Eurojackpot, which is drawn twice a week, was 151.1 million. EUR (+0.0%). Lotto’s gaming margin was DKK 136.5 million in the reporting year. euro (-8.9%).

Veikkaus Oy’s result will be accounted to the beneficiary ministries for the last time. From 2024, Veikkaus Oy’s income will go to the state budget without defined uses.

All games subject to the authentication requirement

Veikkaus coupon games started requiring the player to identify himself as a Veikkaus customer in mid-May. The effects of the identification requirement on playing have been in line with expectations. During the year, Veikkaus also prepared for the identification requirement for scratch cards that entered into force on January 1, 2024, which means that all Veikkaus games now require identification.

– With the identification requirement for all our games (including scratch cards), we are one of the pioneers of more responsible gambling in the whole world, Veikkaus’ responsibility director Susanna Saikkonen says.

Identifying players enables a safer gambling environment, where customers are offered e.g. loss and money transfer limits and the possibility of game bans. The data obtained through identifiable gaming can also be used to prevent and reduce gambling problems.

– With the help of data, we can analyze players’ gaming behavior and the changes that occur in it in order to identify risky gaming. During the year 2023, we made more than 3,700 care calls based on the gaming handicap forecast and we also introduced an automation-based care communication model for high-risk customers. In particular, advance messages about maintenance calls, call attempts and conversations have a clear effect on the fact that the contacted customers have set game restrictions for themselves, says Saikkonen.

In terms of preventing gambling problems, it would be of the utmost importance to bring other gambling companies already operating in Finland under the same responsible gaming rules as Veikkaus. It is recorded in the government program that Finland will move to a partial multi-permit system at the beginning of 2026. It is important to stick to the schedule. The new system enables tools and means to prevent gambling problems. Every extra day in an environment where there are no shared rules of the game is too much.

Subsidiary Fennica Gaming expanded rapidly

The main goal of Veikkaus’ international business-to-business subsidiary Fennica Gaming for the year was to expand to new markets with the eArpa service, and it was successful. By the end of the year, the company had delivered games to three continents and eight national game companies. At the end of the year, Finnish online lotteries could be played in the Nordic countries, the Baltics, Central Europe and America.

– Fennica Gaming’s business customers have been very satisfied with the quality of the games, Fennica Gaming’s service and expertise, and the reliability of deliveries. With new markets, we have learned a lot about how we can best generate added value to our business customers’ business. We believe that the rapid expansion will also continue in 2024, Fennica Gaming CEO Timo Kiiskinen says.

More information on Veikkaus’ website:

More information: CFO Regina Sippel, Sustainability Director Susanna Saikkonen and Fennica Gaming CEO Timo Kiiskinen, contact via Veikkaus’ media service, tel. 09 4370 7000.

Bulletin updated on 7.3. at 17:15. Veikkaus’ digital gaming grew by 4.5 percentage points, not 4.5 percent, as originally stated in the introduction.

SOURCE: Veikkaus Oy