Fewer high rollers leads to a lower result for Paf

During the 2018 financial year the Åland gaming company Paf made a profit of €24.6 million from a total turnover of €111.8 million. It is proposed that €21 million of this profit will be allocated to Paf’s owner Åland’s regional government to be distributed for the benefit of society.

“Our result is 16% lower and this is entirely due to the fact that we have significantly reduced earnings from big players. So I’m actually really proud of the result and that we can deliver a substantial amount of money to benefit society,” says Paf’s CEO Christer Fahlstedt.

In September 2018 Paf’s Yearly Limit began rolling out and by the autumn of 2019 it will apply to every one of Paf’s online players. This ‘loss limit’ means that no online player can lose more than €30,000 from their bank account and that Paf will be completely without these big ‘high roller’ players by 2020.

“It’s a lot of money for us to lose out on annually but it is unsustainable money that we no longer wish 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,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

Paf has chosen to openly publish figures revealing all of its various customer groups’ profits and losses over recent years. Read more about Paf customer figures here.

€3 million more for the benefit of society

The Group’s total turnover decreased during the financial year from €116.5 million to €111.8 million, and the Group’s operating profit decreased from €29.4 million to €24.6 million. It’s proposed that €21 million will be distributed for the benefit of society, which is €3 million more than the previous year.

The online gaming turnover decreased from €84.5 million to €80.0 million. The land and ship operation gaming turnover was approximately the same as the previous year at €31.8 million (€31.9 million in 2017).

“It seems hard to believe, but we actually increased the number of active players by 24%, which is a fantastic figure. We have more players who are playing for smaller amounts of money and I see that as clear evidence that we offer good gaming products,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

Paf’s annual report and financial statements for 2018 can be accessed via the following link:
https://aboutpaf.com/corporate/annual-reports/

A selection of highlights from 2018:

• Paf extended its partnership with Tallink Silja in March 2018.
• Paf received a gaming licence in Latvia and opened the Latvian online gaming site in June 2018.
• Paf acquired the bingo supplier ‘Programutvecklarna in Norrköping AB’ in October 2018.
• Paf was granted a five-year gaming licence in Sweden in December 2018.