LeoVegas AB financials hit by coronavirus and unlicensed competition

Swedish iGaming operator LeoVegas AB has released its financial results for the third quarter and blamed the relatively static outcome on the coronavirus pandemic and the recent influx of unlicensed online casino operators into its home market.

The Stockholm-headquartered firm used an official press release to detail that its aggregated third-quarter net revenues rose by just 1% year-on-year to €88.9 million ($105 million) despite recording a comparable 2% boost in local currencies. The operator moreover explained that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the three months to the end of September declined by almost 6.3% to €11.9 million ($14 million) off of a margin of 13.4% even as the number of depositing customers increased by 26% to 438,691.

Extensive portfolio:

LeoVegas AB is responsible for a plethora of iGaming sites including RoyalPanda.com, LeoVegas.com, BetUK.com, SlotBoss.co.uk, Bingos.co.uk and 21.co.uk and recently made its GoGoCasino.com and LiveCasino.com domains available to online casino aficionados in neighboring Finland. The Swedish firm moreover revealed that the third quarter saw it boost its ownership in the Pixel.bet enterprise to 85% while paying out some €500,000 ($590,400) to optimize and streamline its operations.

Detrimental factors:

Despite all of these efforts, the operator proclaimed that its bottom line for the three-month period had been negatively impacted ‘by the temporary restrictions’ introduced to help Sweden stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Gustaf Hagman, Chief Executive Officer for LeoVegas AB, declared that his firm had furthermore suffered at the hands of ‘a troubling development in which the unlicensed market continues to grow unhindered’.

Read a statement from Hagman…

“A growing number of operators without licences are actively targeting Swedish players including those who have been barred by the Spelpaus self-exclusion tool. This has been confirmed by, among others, several organizations that provide help to people with a gambling problem. These organisations have noted that the majority of those seeking help are playing with unlicensed operators. The problem is big and is shaking the foundations of the entire Swedish licencing system. Quick and strong measures are now needed by Swedish politicians and authorities to ensure a well-functioning Swedish gaming market.”

Recent recovery:

LeoVegas AB went on to announce that it is expecting to see approximately €1.5 million ($1.7 million) in cost savings next year as a result of its earlier optimization efforts and posted preliminary net revenues for October that were 27% higher year-on-year at around €33 million ($38.9 million). The firm pronounced that it is additionally ‘looking forward with confidence’ to expanding its operations in Germany and recently re-launched its RoyalPanda.com domain into Finland while bringing a bingo service to its LeoVegas.com site.