Finland’s outgoing state monopoly operator Veikkaus Group has returned to growth in H1 as it prepares to cough up around €1bn over a 10-year period for an exclusive licence ahead of the 2027 licence-based market launch.

Licensed gambling operations in the new Finland market will begin on 1 July, 2027. While Veikkaus – which has been fully in support of the launch – will lose its exclusive rights over betting and online casino games, it will retain exclusivity over lottery and slot machine games, scratch cards, and physical table games.

This will cost the operator a market-based compensation fee of approximately €1bn, which will be paid over the duration of the decade-long exclusive licence. A significant part of the amount is expected to be due for payment on a front-loaded basis by the end of this year.

Strong H1 tailwinds mark return-to-growth

Veikkaus saw YoY improvement in its financial performance, with both sales and net profit going up.

Actual sales revenue went up from €466.4m to €471.3m in the six months ending 31 June. Meanwhile, net profit climbed from €229.6m to €234.2m – a 2% YoY increase.

Growth was largely supported by the performance of the Veikkaus digital channels, with the company reporting that 64.5% of its gross gaming revenue (GGR) came from digital (up 3.6% YoY), while 35.5% was generated through physical point-of-sale. The total number of registered accounts came in at 2,672,000.

Lottery and Land Based Gaming GGR stood at €317.9m (H1 2025: €317.5m), while lottery-focused digital GGR grew by 9.1% YoY. Similarly, Betting and iCasino saw GGR increase to €151.6m (€146.5m), with digital-only GGR growing by 5% YoY.

B2B business sees rapid expansion

Fennica Gaming, the international lottery and gaming B2B subsidiary of Veikkaus Group, has grown exponentially over the first six months of 2026.

The company saw an explosive revenue surge of 80.6% YoY for a total of €10.3m (H1 2025: €5.7m). This growth was accompanied by major strategic activations in Canada, providing early opportunities at a time when provinces slowly begin to consider iGaming regulations, and Italy – one of Europe’s largest lottery markets.

Market expansions have also led to Fennica strengthening its presence across Germany, Mexico, the Czech Republic, and Iceland. 

The company now delivers games across three continents and 21 markets – in line with Veikkaus’ ambition to become a competitive international gambling company by the end of 2030.