Paf revenues down 4% in 2018 as loss-limits bite
Finnish operator pledges to have no high roller players by 2020
Åland-based online gaming operator Paf revealed a 4% year-on-year drop in its group revenues for 2018, with revenues falling to €111.8m from a 2017 high of €116.5m.
Paf online revenues fell 5% y-o-y to €80m, with the company citing the introduction of its ‘loss limit’ on online players as the reason for the decline.
Under the loss limit, no online player using the Paf website can lose more than €30,000 from their account, with Paf asserting it will be entirely without high-roller players by 2020.
The limit, first introduced in July 2018 as part of a gradual roll-out, has so far led to a 35% drop in players wagering more than €30,000 in the year.
Paf CEO Christer Fahlstedt said although the revenue drop was high, it was “unsustainable money” that the business didn’t want to continue to receive.
“The entire gaming industry would feel much better about itself if all the companies openly reveal how they earn their money and choose to stop the big players,” Fahlstedt added.
Company operating profits dropped from €27.6m to €24.7m during 2018, a fall of 10% y-o-y, while revenue from its land and ship-based casinos remained level during 2018 at €31.8m.
Paf said it will distribute €21m of its profits for good causes around Åland, a rise of €3m on the amount given to these causes during 2017.
During 2018, Paf received licences to operate in Sweden and Latvia, opening its first online gaming site in the Baltic state in June 2018.