ATG racing decline mitigated by online growth in 2019
Sweden’s former horse racing monopoly operator Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has reported a 6.6% year-on-year rise in net gaming revenue for 2019, despite a decline in income from horse racing betting in the country.
Revenue for the 12 months through to 31 December 2019 totalled SEK4.43bn (£355.0m/€420.2m/$466.1m), up from SEK4.16bn in the previous year.
Horse racing was by far ATG’s primary source of income generating SEK3.86bn in gross gaming revenue for the year. In comparison, sports betting contributed just SEK271m to the overall total, with a further SEK308m coming from online casino.
Sweden remained ATG’s core market, with SEK4.34bn of its revenue generated in the country. Horse racing revenue stood at SEK3.84bn, down 7.9% from 2018, with ATG putting this down to gaming liability measures in Sweden as part of new regulations introduced in the country from 1 January 2019.
ATG also noted that Swedish sports betting revenue amounted to SEK254m in the full year, and casino SEK257m. This was the first contribution from each vertical, following the market's re-regulation.
In contrast, ATG posted SEK89m in revenue from its operations in Denmark, comprising SEK21m from horse racing, SEK17m in sports betting revenue and SEK51m from casino. The operator completed its acquisition of Ecosys, the parent company of the bet25.dk brand, in April last year.
ATG was boosted by a positive performance in the fourth quarter, during which net gaming revenue grew 9.4% year-on-year from SEK1.08bn to SEK1.18bn.
The operator plans to publish its full results for 2019 on 21 February.