Despite operating in a more liberal and competitive market, the former Danish state gambling monopoly Danske Spil has given a good account of itself in 2012, reporting profit of DK 1.8 billion – a 13.8 percent increase over the previous year.
Most of the revenues generated came from the Lotteri Spil side of the business, which remains monopolised and handles horse racing, bingo and lottery activity. It delivered DK 2.8 billion in revnues – a disappointing 11 percent decline.
However, the Danske Licens Spil division, which operates the online gambling activities in partnership with Bwin.Party, performed far better, achieving revenues up 60 percent to DK 1.2 billion despite competition in the newly liberated Danish market.
Management attributed the improved performance to the company being empowered to offer better odds along with online casino and poker action under the government’s new policies.
Danish Gambling Authority numbers indicate that Danske Spil dominates 60 percent of the Danish online market, which has become less crowded with the departure of a number of licensees. Out of the 54 licensees who entered the market upon liberalisation, only 25 renewed their licensing on the first anniversary.