Sweden’s AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) posted group revenue of SEK 2.9 billion ($0.31 billion) for the first half of 2026, down 1% year-on-year, after a weaker second quarter cut into an otherwise stable start to the year. Operating profit rose 2.3% to SEK 687 million ($72.7 million) over the same period, the company said in its half-year report.
Net gaming revenue (NGR) fell 2% to SEK 2.5 billion ($0.26 billion) for the six months. ATG attributed the year-on-year decline to weaker trading in the second quarter, following a first quarter the company had described as stable.
Casino growth offsets racing and sports declines
ATG’s core horseracing segment posted a 4% drop in revenue, and sports betting NGR fell 7%. Casino NGR rose 15%, the fastest-growing segment in the portfolio, partly offsetting the declines elsewhere. Horseracing remains ATG’s largest single product, built on pool betting on Swedish trotting and gallop racing, so a mid-single-digit decline there weighs more heavily on the group total than percentage swings in the smaller casino and sports books.
ATG’s Danish operations grew 19% over the period, continuing the company’s push to build revenue outside its home market. Denmark is still a small part of the group next to the Swedish racing and sports business. It is now growing faster than any other market ATG reports.
The company reported around 1.4 million active customers in H1 2026, in line with the same period in 2025. Of those, 94% are classed as healthy players who show no signs of risk or harm related to their gambling, according to ATG.
Costs fall as the tax bill rises
ATG paid SEK 607 million ($64.3 million) in gambling taxes during the first half. Operating costs excluding gambling tax fell 1.7% year-on-year to SEK 1.6 billion ($0.17 billion), which the company attributed to efficiency improvements across the business.
The combination of lower operating costs and a higher operating margin lifted profit even as revenue and NGR both declined. ATG credits the improvement to its cost efficiency programme. Gambling tax alone equalled 24% of net gaming revenue for the half, and operating profit worked out to a 27% margin on NGR.
CFO: “weaker than we had expected”
Lotta Nilsson, ATG’s chief financial officer, said the second quarter fell short of the company’s own expectations after a solid start to the year.
“After a stable first quarter, the development in the second quarter was weaker than we had expected,” Nilsson said.
Nilsson said ATG is not satisfied with how revenue developed over the half. She pointed to the higher operating profit and lower costs as evidence that the company’s efficiency work is paying off.
Background: a licensed monopoly turned regulated operator
ATG has run pool betting on horse racing in Sweden since 1974 and moved into sports betting and casino products after the country re-regulated its gambling market in January 2019. The company is owned by the Swedish Trotting Association and the Swedish Jockey Club and holds its licences from Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority. Its expansion into casino and its push into Denmark are part of a broader diversification away from the racing product that built the business.
What’s next
ATG has not issued updated full-year guidance beyond the half-year numbers. Casino is now the clearest growth line in the portfolio, and Denmark is becoming a larger part of the group, while horseracing and sports betting continue to shrink. The next quarterly report will show whether the third quarter marks a return to the trading levels ATG expected before Q2, or a longer stretch of adjustment in its two oldest product lines.
Source: ATG
