Swedish gambling operator Svenska Spel took a turn for the worse in the second quarter of 2020 after a certain virus brought a halt to major retail operations.

On Monday, the state-run Svenska Spel reported generating revenue of SEK1.64b (US$183m) in the three months ending June 30, down nearly one-fifth from the same period last year. Operating profit fell 11.2% to SEK473m and net profit slid 18.4% to SEK340m.

The quarter began just after Svenska Spel shut its four Casino Cosmopol venues due to COVID-19, entirely eliminating that revenue stream. The Vegas slots business remained active but at a reduced capacity as many restaurants chose to close down temporarily. The two land-based units reported revenue falling 61% year-on-year to SEK170m.

The Sport & Casino unit reported revenue falling 37% to SEK291m, primarily due to the pandemic-related halt of major sports events. The company claims this decline began to abate in May and things were more or less back to normal by June. The sports decline was also partially offset by higher online casino, poker and bingo revenue.