The CEO of AB Trav och Galopp (ATG), Hasse Lord Skarplöth, criticized the government's decision to increase gambling taxes. While discussing the second quarter results, he described the tax hike as a "horse racing tax," claiming it would disproportionately affect ATG's operations and ultimately have a negative impact on horse racing.
Starting July 1, the Swedish gambling tax was raised from 18% of total gambling revenue to 22%, aimed at generating an additional 500 million Swedish kronor in tax revenue for the government annually. However, Skarplöth estimates that about 200 million Swedish kronor of this will come from ATG.
He stated, "Given ATG's mission on behalf of the state—to ensure the long-term development of Swedish trotting and galloping sports—the tax increase can be said to be illogical."
He added, "The horse tax will lead to increased costs for ATG. This, in turn, will affect the funding for our horse owners and the entire Swedish horse industry, and lead to a weakening of ATG's mission."
ATG has argued that the government should not raise the tax rate on all gambling total revenue to 22% but should implement a differential tax rate for online casino gambling. It suggested raising the tax rate for online casino gambling to 26%, while maintaining the gambling tax rate at 18%. Skarplöth indicated that he would continue to lobby for this change.
"This proposal not only means a lower tax burden for sports currently struggling with rising costs and high interest rates, but it would also generate more funds for the treasury than the government's own proposal, and our public health would also improve, as online casinos are the gambling form most associated with gambling problems."
ATG Performance
As for the second quarter performance, ATG reported a 2.6% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching 1.57 billion Swedish kronor (138 million euros). Net gambling revenue reached 1.39 billion Swedish kronor, up 3.3%, but horse racing gambling revenue fell 1% to 996 million Swedish kronor due to the annual spring horse racing events held earlier this year.
With the start of the 2024 European Championship, sports betting net gambling revenue grew 15.6% to 207 million Swedish kronor, while online casino revenue increased 16.6% to 183 million Swedish kronor. After moderately reducing expenses, ATG's net profit grew 4.7% year-over-year to 448 million Swedish kronor. The net profit for the first half of the year reached a record 833 million Swedish kronor, up 13.2% year-over-year.
