Svenska Spel to reduce headcount as part of cost-saving programme
Swedish operator plans to save SEK180m as it notes process may take three years to optimise
Svenska Spel has started a cost-optimisation programme which will ultimately lead to staff redundancies at the Swedish operator.
The business is looking to save SEK180m (£13.6m), with the process to take several months. It is anticipated the cost potential will be fully realised within three years.
Costs will be saved through a reduction in staff, as well as the employment of fewer consultants, purchased services and general efficiencies.
Svenska Spel’s total annual cost base stands at SEK3.3bn per year.
Speaking to EGR, chief communication and sustainability officer Frank Hojem explained the rationale behind the decision.
He said: “We have started a work on future-proofing Svenska Spel, both reviewing our costs and our ways of working. We need to create leverage for growth and therefore lower our costs. We have identified cost savings of a total of SEK180m.
“The Swedish gambling market is no longer growing, and inflation is affecting our costs. We want to control our own future and the cost savings allow us to focus on investments in gambling responsibility, growth initiatives in the lotteries business and our technological transformation to Cloud.
“We are in a position of strength. We have improved our operations and changed a lot in the last five years since the change of the Swedish market and regulation. We see this is as a perfect opportunity to challenge ourselves, both in relation to costs and how we work in the best way,” he added.
Hojem confirmed that further details, including specifics around headcount reduction and organisational structure, would be communicated in the new year.
The cost-saving programme comes as Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer is due to step down from his role on 31 January.
The Swede has called time on his five-year spell to join telecommunications firm Telia Company as CEO.
Elsewhere, according to Svenska Spel’s Q3 trading update, the operator noted NGR for the first nine months of 2023 landed at SEK5.9bn, while operating profit increased 2% year on year to reach SEK1.8bn.
EGR Intel
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