Covid-19 erodes Lithuanian gambling revenue in Q1
Lithuania's regulated gambling market saw revenue for the first quarter of 2020 fall 2.8% year-on-year to €25.9m (£22.6m/$28.1m), with an increased online contribution not enough to offset land-based declines caused by novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Despite the decline in revenue, turnover across all licensees was up 13.8% to €296.5m in the three months to 31 March. This was was down to a significant jump in the contribution from online betting and gaming, which climed 54.2% to €201.2m, meaning the channel accounted for 67.9% of market turnover in Q1. With Lithuania's land-based venues closed from 16 March, turnover for the channel was down 20.8% to €94.3m.
Online gambling revenue grew 39.1% to €11.8m. Despite the suspension of sports across the globe, betting revenue grew 14.6% to €6.0m, with amounts wagered rising €111.0m, a 15.6% increase.
Category A online slots – with no limit on winnings – accounted for €5.3m in revenue (up 85.2%), and amounts wagered soared 165.0%. Category B slots, where stakes are capped at €0.5m, saw revenue climb 14.5% to €243,678 on stakes of €2.1m, up 29.5%.
Online table game revenue, meanwhile, rose 59.8% to €165,541 from stakes of €230,750, a 36.1% increase.
However the land-based market struggled as a result of the Covid-19 enforced shut-downs, with revenue falling 23.3% to €14.1m.
Category B slot machines accounted for the majority of the quarterly total, though revenue fell 17.7% to €6.5m, after turnover declined 15.2% to €41.1m. Category A machine revenue was down 12.6% to €2.5m, with turnover declining to €10.9m.
Table game turnover fell 25.5% to €15.7m, with revenue down 29.8% to €3.4m.
Unlike online betting, land-based sports betting was hit hard by the sporting shut-down, with revenue dropping 33.6% to €1.8m. Amounts wagered on sports was also down, falling 27.7% to €26.6m.
In 2019, gambling revenue in Lithuania increased by 13.1% year-on-year to €112.6m, due in part to significant growth in the country’s online gaming market.