ATG CEO urges Swedish government to lower gambling tax for betting
Looking to how ATG performed in 2024, revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 amounted to SEK6.19 billion (£459 million/€551 million/$577 million). This is 2.5% above the previous year. Net gaming revenue was largely flat, up 1.7% to SEK5.36 billion.
Revenue growth was enough to push operating profit up 1.4% to SEK1.81 billion for the 12-month period. After also including financial items, pre-tax profit topped SEK1.87 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year.
In ATG’s full-year presentation, published today (14 February), Skarplöth said growth could have been much greater had it not been impacted by Sweden’s gambling tax increase, which came into force in July.
Skarplöth said the recession, high household costs and higher interest rates had also hit ATG revenue in 2024.
Skarplöth urges rethink over gambling tax hike
This is not the first time Skarplöth has hit out at the new tax rate. The gambling tax is based on GGR and shot up from 18% to 22% in July 2024. This was despite strong opposition from stakeholders, including Skarplöth, who branded it a “horse tax” due to its significant impact on the operator’s earnings.
In ATG’s 2024 results Skarplöth advised the government to adopt an alternative approach so as not to harm the racing betting sector.
“The increased gambling tax has a negative impact,” Skarplöth said. “In my eyes, this is a horse tax as ATG accounts for around 40% of the state’s tax revenue from the gambling industry.
“We are therefore pushing for a tax rate of 18% for betting and 26% for commercial online gambling. This would benefit both the state and public health. The work will continue in 2025.”
In October a motion was filed in the Swedish parliament for the government to reconsider the current gambling tax rate. The motion was filed by Moderate Party member Carl Nordblom, who has argued decreasing the tax rate could improve channelisation rates for onshore online operators.
Sports betting and casino growth
Net gaming revenue from horse betting remained largely unchanged. For the 12-month period, revenue in this segment was 0.5% lower year-on-year at SEK3.89 billion.
On the other hand, sports betting revenue was 7.8% higher at SEK778 million in 2024. This was helped by several major sporting events such as football’s Euro 2024 and the summer Olympic Games in Paris.
In addition, casino revenue was up 8.2% at SEK689 million. More than 600 new games were launched during the year, while the ATG Casino Jackpot was introduced in December.
ATG also noted a 7.7% increase in total active customers to 1.4 million. This was despite the challenging market conditions highlighted by Skarplöth.
Turning to costs, operating expenses were slightly lower but the change in tax rate meant gaming tax payments increased 13.8% to SEK1.21 billion.
Income tax totalled SEK386 million, leaving ATG with a bottom line net profit of SEK1.48 billion, an increase of 1.7%.
Horse betting decline for ATG in Q4
Looking at the final quarter of the year, revenue in Q4 climbed 3.1% to SEK1.65 billion. This was despite a decline in the horse betting business, with both sports betting and casino seeing increases in revenue.
Again, while operating costs were lower but gaming tax increased, operating profit improved by 5.1% to SEK574 million. Pre-tax profit was also 5.5% higher at SEK594 million for the quarter.
After paying SEK347 million in income tax, net profit in the quarter topped SEK246 million, a year-on-year rise of 9.8%.
“My employees and I look forward to 2025 with the goal of continuing to offer exciting gaming experiences to our customers and increasing revenue,” Skarplöth said.