NetEnt struggling to adjust to Sweden’s regulated market

Online gambling technology providers NetEnt are the latest to report declines in revenue and profit due to challenges in adjusting to Sweden’s new regulated market.

On Thursday, the Stockholm-based NetEnt reported revenue of SEK418m (US$43.8m) in the three months ending March 31, a modest 2.8% decline from the same period last year. Earnings improved 7.7% to SEK196m as margins gained nearly five points to 47%, but operating profit dipped 6% to SEK126m and net profit was down 10.5% to SEK120m.

In mid-February, NetEnt reported that its game win was off 5% since the January 1 launch of Sweden’s new regulated online gambling market, and the company said Thursday that its Nordic markets “accounted for almost the entire slowdown [in Q1], mainly due to lower volumes in Sweden.”

NetEnt said the gambling taxes paid under Sweden’s new regulatory scheme lowered its overall revenue by 2% in Q1, but the changes also “impacted our customers and players to an extent that we had not foreseen.” (NetEnt isn’t alone in having difficulties adjusting to the new Swedish reality.)