Profits declined for the mobile gaming group, LeoVegas during 2021, following regulatory challenges in Germany and the Netherlands. The group reported significantly marginal year on year revenue growth.
Key features of the report which covered the 12 months to December 31st, 2021 include:
- Revenue climbed just 1% to €391.2 million, compared to €387.5 million in the previous year.
- The number of new depositing players fell 3.3% to 724,540, although the number of returning depositing customers increased 12.5% to 1.1 million.
Numbers were largely affected by regulatory challenges in some of the European markets where LeoVegas operates.
The group was forced to stop operations in the Netherlands ahead of the country opening its new regulated online gambling market in October last year. This move will ultimately see LeoVegas acquire a license in the future, although the impact was immediately felt as the Netherlands makes up 6% of the group’s revenue.
Another problematic market was Germany, which introduced a 5.3% turnover tax on online poker and casino in July last year. This severely impacted the group’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021.
LeoVegas acquired Expekt sports betting group last year for €5 million.
“The new launch of Expekt has been a major success, with sales increasing almost fourfold since the acquisition,” noted LeoVegas chief executive Gustaf Hagman. “We are now planning to expand into more markets.”