Poker and casino drive 33% Danske Spil profit
Former Danish monopoly sees first half profits rise by a third following opening of Danish market at the beginning of this year.
Danske Spil posted a 33% rise in profit for the first half of 2012 after a successful launch of casino and poker products, according to the Danish national lottery’s interim results.
Following the opening of the Danish market at the beginning of the year, the former Danish monopoly saw its share of online profits rise by a third (33%) to DKK 837m (£89m) for the six months ending 30 June, compared to DKK 629m in the corresponding period last year.
The company’s gross gaming revenue increased by DKK 292m to DKK 1,978m, however its total costs rose by DKK 36m to DKK 400m due to a new marketing drive as well as increased advertising during the Euro 2012 football championships this summer. Danske Spil today confirmed that it had chosen UK IT-company OpenBet to provide its new sports betting platform, having opened the tender process to find a partner last year.
“This significant progress of our results indicates that Danske Spil got off to a very good start on the new gaming market, which was introduced 1 January this year,” said Hans Christian Madsen, Danske Spil chief executive.
Using software provided by bwin.party, Danske Spil launched online poker and casino games on 1 January, having been awarded an operating licence in December last year.
In June, Danske Spil launched a mobile offering in partnership with Betware for iOS and Android platforms, with the products managed by the company’s Danske Licens Spil division, created following regulation.