In 2023, Veikkaus had a successful year in its digital channel initiatives, with 180,000 new people registering as Veikkaus customers, bringing the total customer base to over 2.5 million registered customers.
Digital gaming accounted for nearly 55% of Veikkaus’ gross gaming revenue, experiencing a growth of 4.5 percentage points. Veikkaus focused its development investments on its digital channel, and the games created by Veikkaus’ own gaming studio played a significant role in generating gross gaming revenue through online casino, eArpa service, and other offerings. Veikkaus also made preparations for the customer registration requirement that will apply to all its games starting from 2024. Veikkaus became the first gaming company in the world to require customer registration for purchasing or redeeming physical scratch cards and lottery tickets, aiming to create a safer gambling environment.
Veikkaus’ Performance in 2023
- The Veikkaus Group’s actual sales revenue in 2023 was EUR 1,033.1 million, a decrease of 3.5% compared to 2022. The sales revenue includes gross gaming revenue from gambling activities and turnover from other business activities.
- Veikkaus Group’s profit for the fiscal year was EUR 578.5 million, a decrease of 13.7%. The operating profit was EUR 573.6 million, a decrease of 14.5%. The decline in the result was due to an increase in the lottery tax, one-time cost entries from cooperation negotiations, and significant investments in the Group’s future.
- The financial profit of parent company Veikkaus Oy for 2023 was EUR 585.0 million, a decrease of 14.0%. The operating profit was EUR 580.2 million, a decrease of 14.7%. Veikkaus’ gross gaming revenue was EUR 1,032.0 million, a decrease of 3.6%. The decline was partly due to the identification requirement for physical ticket-based game players introduced in May 2023.
- The lottery tax paid to the central government on gross gaming revenue increased to 5% for the fiscal year. Veikkaus Oy paid EUR 51.7 million in lottery tax, which is EUR 15.4 million more than the previous year.
- In 2023, 90.6% of Veikkaus’ domestic gambling activities required customer identification. Starting from January 1, 2024, all Veikkaus games can only be played by registered customers who must identify themselves each time they play.
- By the end of 2023, Veikkaus had approximately 2,520,000 registered customers, an increase of approximately 180,000 during the year.
In 2023, 54.8% of Veikkaus’ consumer-oriented gambling activities’ gross gaming revenue came from the digital channel, representing a growth of 4.5 percentage points. Veikkaus accounted for around 54% of the Finnish digital gambling market for the year, according to H2 Gambling Capital’s estimate.
According to Veikkaus CFO Regina Sippel, the company’s profits and performance in 2023 were satisfactory. The online casino was the most successful game group, with a gross gaming revenue of EUR 184.0 million, a growth of 6.1%. Eurojackpot and Lotto were the most-played games, with Eurojackpot’s gross gaming revenue remaining stable at EUR 151.1 million and Lotto’s gross gaming revenue decreasing by 8.9% to EUR 136.5 million.
Starting from 2024, Veikkaus Oy’s revenues will be directed to the state budget without any pre-defined beneficiaries.
All Games Covered by Identification Requirement
Veikkaus implemented mandatory registration for ticket-based games in May and expanded the identification requirement to include scratch card games from January 1, 2024. This means that all of Veikkaus’ games now require identification.
Susanna Saikkonen, Vice President for Sustainability at Veikkaus, highlights that the identification of players enables a safer gambling environment and allows for the implementation of various services to prevent and reduce the harms of gambling. In 2023, Veikkaus’ gambling harm prediction system made over 3,700 calls to at-risk players, and a care and communication model was introduced for high-risk players. Saikkonen emphasizes the importance of other gambling companies in Finland following Veikkaus’ example to comply with the same responsibility rules.
Rapid Expansion of Veikkaus subsidiary Fennica Gaming
Veikkaus’ subsidiary Fennica Gaming successfully expanded the eArpa service to new markets in 2023. Finnish online lotteries were made available in the Nordic countries, the Baltic States, Central Europe, and America, serving eight state-owned gaming companies across three continents. According to Timo Kiiskinen, CEO of Fennica Gaming, corporate customers have been highly satisfied with the quality of games and the level of service provided by Fennica Gaming. The company anticipates further expansion in 2024.