Swedish Gambling Monopoly Scores Bigtime
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Online-Casinos.com
SWEDISH GAMBLING MONOPOLY SCORES BIGTIME
Svenska Spel posts record profits
Svenska Spel AB, the Swedish government-owned and licensed gaming company, posted record profits for 2006 this week, with a healthy contribution from the online poker division, which opened in March last year.
In total, Svenska Spel made a $685 million profit during 2006, the company's best result ever. According to CEO Jesper Karrbrink, the online poker section has been extremely successful.
"It has really fulfilled its purpose to bring home a big part of the Swedes' unregulated poker playing to a responsible environment within the country's borders," said Karrbrink in an interview with the newspaper Dagens Industri.
Even though Svenska Spel is doing well, Karrbrink wants to see changes on the Swedish gaming market. "New gambling legislation through which all types of gambling are regulated is needed. Whether it's through a state monopoly, or a license system where we compete with privately owned companies is up to the politicians to decide."
"With this record profit to back us up, we will feel pretty comfortable either way," Karrbrink said.
