Veikkaus reported revenue of €471.3 million for the first half of 2026, up 1% on the same period a year earlier, ten months before Finland opens its online gambling market to licensed operators.
Operating profit was €227.7 million and net profit €234.2 million, a 2% increase. Digital channels accounted for 64.5% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) at Veikkaus Ltd.
Chief executive Olli Sarekoski attributed the result to the company’s spending on technology.
“Veikkaus’ first half of the year has developed positively and in line with our expectations: we have returned to a growth path. It is great to see that our investments in digital business and technical capabilities are delivering results in the current operating environment.”
Lottery and online betting grow, retail falls
Lottery GGR reached €254.5 million in the six months to 30 June, against €246.1 million a year earlier. Betting and iCasino GGR came in at €151.6 million, up from €146.5 million. Digital GGR rose 9.1% in the lottery and land-based gaming unit and 5% in betting and iCasino.
Retail gaming GGR fell 11.1% to €63.4 million. The decline continues a multi-year contraction in land-based play in Finland, where Veikkaus has cut its slot machine estate and applied mandatory player identification across land-based gaming.
Registered customers reached 2.67 million, around 50,000 more than a year earlier.
The pattern matches the wider Nordic monopoly picture. Denmark’s Danske Spil reported H1 GGR up 2% to DKK2.59 billion, also carried by lottery and online casino rather than retail.
Fennica Gaming grows outside Finland
Fennica Gaming, the business-to-business (B2B) subsidiary Veikkaus set up to sell its lottery and gaming technology abroad, reported revenue of €10.3 million for the half, up 80.6%. It supplies operators in 21 countries, including Italy, Mexico, Iceland, Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Fennica’s revenue does not depend on Veikkaus’ Finnish exclusivity, which ends when the licensing system takes effect.
Ten months to the licensed market
Finland’s licensed market opens on 1 July 2027. The National Police Board’s gambling administration unit has accepted applications since 1 March 2026 and had received 50 by 9 June, covering online betting and casino games. Licences run for a fixed term of up to five years, and the board says processing currently averages around six months.
Juha Katainen, senior adviser at the National Police Board, has asked applicants to leave the unit alone while it works through the queue.
“We hope that applicants will avoid constantly contacting us about the processing status of their application, as answering enquiries takes time away from the processing of applications.”
Katainen said reliability and suitability checks are run on documents supplied by the applicant, including register extracts, certificates and reports. Supervision transfers to a new Gambling Supervisory Agency when the market opens, and B2B licensing becomes available at the same point.
Veikkaus keeps exclusive rights to lottery games, scratch cards, physical slot machines and casino operations after 2027. Online betting and iCasino, which produced €151.6 million in GGR in the first half, is the segment that opens to competition. On current numbers, that is the revenue line 50 applicants are competing for.
Veikkaus has already started positioning for the change. It joined the Finnish gambling trade body earlier this month, putting it in the same association as the operators it will compete against.
Headcount changes
On 2 September, Veikkaus said 15 roles would end and 17 new positions would be created. The net change is small by the standards of the cuts running across the sector in 2026, and the company is adding more posts than it removes.
The half-year figures are the last full reporting period before licence decisions start arriving. If the National Police Board holds to six-month processing, the first Finnish licences would be granted around the turn of the year, leaving successful applicants roughly six months to build local operations, integrate payments and sign marketing deals before 1 July 2027. Veikkaus has the same window to defend a €151.6 million business it has never had to defend before.
Source: Veikkaus
