SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Though navigating choppy waters, Paf ultimately enjoyed a strong 2022, with turnover increasing by 23% year-over-year, marking a record for the Finnish government-owned gambling firm.
Paf stated that revenue for 2022 hit €165.7m, a new company record and a 23% hike on 2021’s figure.
The Ålands Islands operator also outlined that it continues to invest in responsible gaming measures, with the newly published figures for its customer segments demonstrating that the investments are having a positive effect.
Paf CEO, Christer Fahlstedt, said; “We are pleased with last year, it is a good result and a testament to our ability to deliver. We are doing much better in Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. In addition, our ship operations have largely recovered.”
Firstly, profit increased from €34.3m to €44.4m, with around €8m of the positive result being due to a temporary reduction in lottery tax in Finland – paving the way for greater distribution of Paf funds.
“Paf’s purpose is to generate funds for the benefit of society and with the strong result we can distribute €33.1m,” added Chairman of the Board, Jan-Mikael von Schantz. “From the Board’s point of view, we are really pleased with how the employees have managed to perform and develop the company over the past year.”
Paf notified stakeholders that it has now provided over €400m in funding since its formation in 1966.
In terms of responsible gaming, autumn 2022 saw the firm choose to lower the mandatory loss limit for young players aged 18-24.
In the spring of 2023, Paf doubled down on this initiative, when it lowered the loss limit for all customers to €17,500 a year. The company also introduced a specific loss limit for young players aged 18-19, which was €1800 a year.
These loss limits therefore put an end to the revenues from the ‘most intensive’ playing customers.
“We estimate that our measures cost about €7m in total. For Paf as a company, this is a significant sum, but it is the right thing to do. We should provide entertainment in a sustainable way,” added Fahlstedt.
On the other hand, Paf worked hard on customer segments to demonstrate itself as a more trustworthy gaming company, specifically after publishing figures for customer losses and winnings in 2019.
Fahlstedt noted that the company increased the more sustainable green revenues by 22% from 2021 to 2022, which he lauded as a ‘big step in the right direction’.
“The other segments have also increased, which can mostly be explained by our recent acquisition of the Speedy companies in the Swedish market,” he concluded.
Acquired from Hero Gaming, the Speedy companies run the gaming sites Speedy Casino, Speedybet and Speedyspel. With this purchase, Paf became one of the six largest gaming companies in Sweden.
