It was a busy quarter of trading for Svenska Spel as the growth of its online division, combined with resilience across its Lotto and Oddset brands, helped the Swedish group increase its overall net gaming revenue (NGR) by 2%.
Publishing its interim results for January – March 2026, Svenska Spel reported that NGR reached SEK 1.88bn (£150.4m) during the quarter – an increase of SEK 30m compared to the same period last year.
Total operating profit for Svenska Spel amounted to SEK 659m in Q1 2026, an increase of SEK 25m – approximately 4%.
Sports and casino fuel Q1 growth
Sports and Casino were the biggest areas of growth for the operator, with NGR up 3% for the division.
While the majority of the growth stemmed from players betting via the Oddset brand, Svenska Spel noted that the Winter Olympics also helped provide a welcome boost to betting volume, due to “customers being more active and a higher average bet per customer”.
Anna Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Svenska Spel, said: “We have high ambitions for 2026 and one of our priorities is sustainable growth with a focus on our strong products. It is therefore positive that the year begins with growth in line with the market, with the product brands as the driving force.”
Sports betting wasn’t the only division to report growth during the quarter. Svenska Spel also noted that its casino and lottery games division reported an increase in both activity and player volume during the quarter.
This translated to a 2% increase in NGR for the Luck Division; you could say that Luck was on Svenska Spel’s side in Q1.
That boost in performance was also felt across Svenska Spel’s Lotto brand. However, this was hampered somewhat by jackpot levels failing to reach the same levels as the year prior.
During the trading quarter, it was reported that operating margins also grew from 34% to 35%. It’s worth noting that in mature, heavily regulated markets such as Sweden, generating organic growth is becoming an uphill battle.
However, Svenska Spel has managed to achieve this, albeit only by one percentage point, by keeping its overall costs relatively flat as its NGR continues to grow.
This increase has been somewhat of a rarity for Swedish businesses in the gambling industry, with plenty of Stockholm PLCs – including Betsson, Evolution and Kambi – seeing revenue declines in recent financial results.
As the Swedish operator continues to funnel its revenue through its digital channels – which now account for 67% of total revenue – it’s become evident that Svenska Spel has moved past the heavy investment phase of digital transformation and into a new chapter of growth optimisation.
Land-based fails to land with players
Unfortunately, Svenska Spel’s land-based operations didn’t quite feel the same benefits as its online counterparts, with its Vegas division taking quite a hit during Q1 2026.
With a 17% decrease in NGR compared to last year, Svenska Spel has already implemented a number of cost efficiency measures to offset the trend of players increasingly shifting their attention towards playing online.
While the initial declines in NGR might sound alarm bells, it’s not overly surprising. Svenska Spel has continued to manage the decline of its physical footprint in Sweden for quite some time now, evidenced clearly bythe closure of its Casino Cosmopol property.
Upon the closure of its final property in April 2025, Svenska Spel said: “Casino Cosmopol has had declining profitability and visitor numbers for several years, as more and more people choose to play casino online.
“To limit losses, the casino in Sundsvall was closed in 2020, in February 2024 the casinos in Gothenburg and Malmö were closed and now Stockholm has also closed.”
It is likely that Svenska Spel will continue its gradual shift away from retail and more towards online as it refocuses its strategy to prioritise “profitable business partners” in 2026 and beyond.
Channelisation still a major concern
It’s been eight years since Sweden first opened its doors to gambling regulation. The market’s difficulties in combating the lingering presence of unlicensed operators, particularly around online casino, have been well documented, however.
In its interim report, Svenska Spel noted that channelisation continues to be a “central issue” to the market’s overall development. This is particularly pertinent at a time “when the regulated market is characterised by tough competition”.
With the number of players registered via Spelpaus amounting to 134,500, a “clear increase” compared to the year previous, the Swedish operator alluded to the fact that responsible gambling will continue to be a major priority for the wider industry.
In addition to responsible gambling, the developments taking place in Finland have also been pinpointed as a factor that may have a knock on effect for the Swedish market’s development.
The interim report read: “In Finland, the licensing process has now begun ahead of the upcoming reregulation of the gambling market, and applications for licenses under the new Gambling Act could be submitted from March 2026.
“This marks a clear step from political direction to actual market opening and is expected to gradually affect competition in the Nordic countries in the coming years.
“Overall, developments indicate that the gaming industry will increasingly be characterised by the ability to put decisions into practice, clearer regulation and intensified competition in already mature markets.”
