Paf Shows Impressive Performance in 2022, Expects Trend to Continue

Nordic gaming group Paf released its 2022 annual report, posting a record-high turnover and an impressive increase in net profit.

Turnover by Divisions

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, Paf Group registered a turnover of €165.7 million ($179 million), posting an increase of 23% from €135 million ($145.8 million) the group accounted for in 2021.

“We are pleased with last year, it is a good result and a testament to our ability to deliver,” commented Paf’s chief executive officer Christer Fahlstedt, highlighting Sweden, Switzerland and Spain as the gaming destinations which stood out, as well as the recovery of the group’s ship operations.

Paf’s internet operations in the year accounted for €142.1 million ($153.5 million), generating 17% more than in 2021 (€121.2 million ($130.9 million)), with particularly strong growth registered across the Swedish and Spanish markets.

The group attributed the turnover increase to the record number of active customers during the year, 483,595, which increased by 44% from 336,206 in 2021, and expects the number of its active customers to continue to grow in 2023.

Turnover from land and ship operations generated €23.5 million ($25.4 million), increasing by more than 70% year-over-year mainly due to a sharp increase in the number of passengers on board the vessels compared to the prior year. Paf believes there is still room for this number to increase and reach the 2019 level and expects the positive trend to continue in 2023.

Other operating income increased by 9%, from €6.8 million ($7.3 million) in 2021 to €10.1 million ($10.9 million) now, mainly due to the increased sales of gambling platforms and associated services.

Expenses, Operating Profit, Net Profit

Costs in 2022 aggregated to €128.3 million ($138.6 million), up 20% from €106.8 million ($115.3 million) in 2021. There were increases in materials and services costs, €39.5 million ($42.7 million), up 30% from €30.3 million ($32.7 million) in 2021, and other operating expenses which were up by more than 25% to €54 million ($58.3 million) from €43.1 million ($46.5 million) in 2021, and staff costs marginally increased while the cost of depreciation remained almost unchanged.

Paf explained the increased costs by an increase in marketing expenses, costs for the cloud-based technology and travel expenses.

Paf Group ended 2022 with an operating profit of €48.5 million ($52.4 million), up 36% from €35.7 million ($38.6 million) in 2021. The net result of financial income and expenses was a loss of €1.6 million ($1.73 million) while in 2021 it was €300,000 ($324,000).

“Paf’s purpose is to generate funds for the benefit of society and with the strong result we can distribute €33.1 million,” said Paf’s chairman Jan-Mikael von Schantz, thanking all employees for their performance over the past year.

Net profit in 2022 was €44.4 million ($48 million), registering an impressive increase of more than 35% from €32.8 million ($35.4 million) in 2021.