Finnish operator Veikkaus Oy counting the cost of coronavirus

In Finland and online and land-based gaming operator Veikkaus Oy has reportedly detailed that it expects its profit for the whole of 2020 to fall by up to €300 million ($353.1 million) year-on-year as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report from the news domain at iGamingBusiness.com, the state-owned firm made this revelation after recording a decline of 33.6% year-on-year in its overall profit for the six months to the end of June to €332.7 million ($391.5 million) with its associated gross gaming revenues having decreased by 28.1% to €607.2 million ($714.4 million).

Significant shuttering:

iGamingBusiness.com reported that the Finnish operator was forced to shutter all of its land-based venues for a 15-week period from March 13 and only began reviving operations four days before the conclusion of the half-year term. The source also detailed that this move pushed the firm’s six-month revenues from casino games down by 46% year-on-year to €243.2 million ($286.1 million) with earnings from its extensive slot estate coming in 58.8% lower at €137.8 million ($162.1 million).

Reduced returns:

Veikkaus Oy reportedly moreover recorded a first-half fall of 9.1% year-on-year in revenues from its other gambling activities to €105.4 million ($124 million), which had encompassed a slightly-slumped contribution of €101 million ($188.8 million) from its collection of online casino games.

iGamingBusiness.com reported that the Helsinki–headquartered firm moreover saw its first-half revenues from sportsbetting collapse by 21.9% year-on-year to €58.1 million ($68.3 million) although takings from its range of toto products rose marginally to surpass €28.9 million ($34 million). To make matters worse and the business purportedly incurred €79.2 million ($93.2 million) in additional costs and witnessed returns from its lottery arm shrink by 4.3% to €305.9 million ($359.8 million).

Unobtainable objective:

Regina Sippel, Chief Financial Officer for Veikkaus Oy, reportedly proclaimed that the operator now looks likely to miss the just over €1 billion ($1.1 billion) full-year profit recorded in the nation’s budget for 2020 despite having chalked up comparable 11.8% and 21% increases in its share of domestic iGaming revenues and the number of online players respectively.

Reportedly read a statement from Sippel…

“Like many other operators, Veikkaus Oy had an exceptionally challenging spring. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, our contribution to society will fall significantly below previous levels.”